Surprising Transformations
by Jade Aislin
Summary: Sometimes it the gift no one was expecting that can change your whole world. Xander becomes baby transformer. Transformer Movie-verse with mostly G1 insertion
1. Part 1

Title: Surprising Transformations  
Author: Jade Aislin  
Rating: FRT  
Summary: Sometimes it the gift no one was expecting that can change your whole world. Xander becomes baby transformer. (Transformer Movie-verse with mostly G1 insertion)

Disclaimer: Don't own Buffy or Transformers.  
Beta: Eternity and Lady FoxFire

Warning: This is AU. While I try to follow the two movies and the events do happen, I make a few distinct differences. For instance, Jazz does not die! It also has slash between bots that technically have no gender. If you do not like this, I suggest you stop reading now.

Note: Either Frenzy or Rumble is at the Mission City battle; causing what mischief he can in the chaos.

Note 2: The only Autobots I will be leaving out are Mudflap and Skids, as I dislike the way they were portrayed and I know if I tried to include them, I would probably be bashing them.

Note 3: While I tried to get Jazz's voice pattern, I don't think I succeeded very well.

Part 1

Xander looked over at Daniel, giving a small smile at his worried look. He settled back into the pillow on his wheelchair. It had been nearly three years since he had found himself in this new dimension with no way to get back to his girls. The first people he had seen had been Daniel and his young wife Alexis and they had been a godsend. Not asking any questions, they had quietly taken in the bedraggled 19 year old, giving him a place to get dried off and sleep for the night, exhaustion winning over any concerns of where the portal had taken him. Oh he remembered the fierce battle against that magic using demon. He had been fighting off the guy's minions while Buffy distracted said bad guy and Willow and Tara attempted to stop whatever spell he had been casting. The portal the guy had been creating had been closing and he had shared a grin with Buffy between hits. He had just heard the guy scream in denial when the portal had suddenly flashed from a pin prick to a size decidedly Xander-big. And just his luck, he was the closest to the Xander-sized portal. And of course, it would suck in one person before closing with a bang.

When Xander had woken the next morning in Daniel's guest bedroom, he had immediately thought of his girls. After a quick discussion with his hosts, he found he was still in California, near the Nevada border. He was sure he'd be home by that night. All he had to do was call his friends to pick him up. . . Only the numbers didn't work. He tried every phone number he could think of. Even Angel's detective agency, which got him a Chinese takeout place, strangely enough. Nearly in tears, Alexis had sat with him at the computer trying to find any of his friends. He even tried looking up his last name. Oh he found lots of Harris's, but no Anthony, no Jessica, or no Alexander Lavelle Harris. He was alone.

Thinking back to his first few moments in this universe, he remembered hearing a strange voice that he had been too tired to focus properly on. While the voice had a strange metallic like quality, Xander would have sworn that the masculine voice had been affectionately warm as it said, "Data insufficient. Beginning search. . ."

He wasn't sure what that voice was. As it was, he had been wobbling on his exhausted legs in front of Daniel's front yard and the couple had immediately taken the teen inside. Now he knew what must have happened, the portal had taken him to another dimension. When he had blabbed that out in front of his hosts, they had surprisingly just shrugged and offered their home. He couldn't believe how nice they were being. Oh, they didn't believe him, but to them he was someone who needed a home and if they could help, so be it.

After an hour long conversation, Xander felt he knew his new world better. Yes, there was shrimp here. And Star Wars. But no Hasbro toy company. And to Xander's dismay, no Transformers. Xander had gone over the entire plots of the two live action Transformer movies, having seen the second one recently with his girls. Alexis had just smiled at the stories and Daniel had commented that they would make a good movie, which had sent Xander into fits of laughter.

Xander had quickly found a home with the White family. His days had been spent looking for a job until frequent dizzy spells made working impossible. Then there had been the numerous doctor visits, paid for by the White family, much to Xander's protest. Unfortunately, the doctors could find nothing wrong with him and the many dizzy spells remained a mystery.

It wasn't until a few months later that Xander realized he was actually in a dimension where the Transformer movies were reality. It had never registered that the White's lived on the outskirts of Tranquility. It had never registered that the White's preferred to go into Mission City when looking for city life. It hadn't even registered when the three of them had gone to Mission City for a day out at Alexis's request. It hadn't been until he had seen the strangest convoy driving into the city, a group of military jeeps escorting . . . a yellow Camaro?

"Bumblebee?" Xander whispered in shock. He shook his head. No, it couldn't be. But then the black Topkick unfurled into a giant robot right beside what was once a bright yellow Camaro, shouting something about screaming stars. Then there was a huge blast.

Next thing he knew there was this little wiry robot laughing gleefully as he tried to choke the life out of Xander. The robots optics burned brightly in interest as Xander gasped beneath him. The bot's head tilted, his red . . . eyes gleamed brightly as if he was curious as to what the human would do next. If Xander had been able to pay attention, he would have realized the bot looked a lot like the movie version of Frenzy. But he was too busy trying to get a breath in, scrabbling at the metallic hands at his throat, even though it did no good.

"Acquiring data . . . data insufficient. Resuming Search. . ." Xander barely noticed that voice he had heard when he first arrived.

And then the little demon bot was gone. Xander blinked up confusedly at the worried gaze of a blue visored, silver, fifteen foot Autobot. "Ya gonna be okay there, little mech?"

Xander blinked, not even noticing the fight going on around them. Slowly, as the bot he knew had to be Jazz brushed one giant finger down his body, he nodded his head.

The bot smiled. "Good. Ya might wanna take cover though."

"Acquiring data . . . data complete . . . Processing. . ."

As the bot started to get up, Xander jumped on the bot's foot, wrapping his arms around it, yelping, "Jazz!"

Jazz stared down at the human in shock. How had the boy known who he was?

Xander looked up at him, determination in his eyes. "Don't fight Megatron! He'll kill you!"

Jazz's visor blinked on and off in surprise. How? A nearby explosion got him out of his thoughts. Gently he pushed the boy towards the couple that was hovering anxiously nearby. "Kid, Ah do what Ah hafta. Even if that means my death. Don't worry though, Ah'm too tough for 'ole Megs to kill easily. Maybe after the battle, we can talk about how ya know mah name."

With that, Jazz got back into the fray, leaping on the rampaging tank and yanking its gun up forcefully, causing the tank to transform into robot mode to strike back. When Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, arrived Jazz leapt at the towering con to give his fellow Autobots more time to retreat.

Xander shook his head as just like in the movie, he watched one of his favorite Autobots being grabbed by the leader of the Decepticons. And just like in the movie, Megatron began to tear the smaller bot in two. However, unlike in the movie, Megatron was forced to drop the poor bot as his body went flying as if it had been hit by a runaway semi. . . Which it had. A semi by the name of Optimus Prime.

Although Xander did not know it, he had delayed the silver bot long enough that the leader of the Autobots had arrived before the unfortunate bot could be torn completely in two, although he was badly damaged and unconscious for the rest of the fight. After the battle was over, government officials had swept through and forced everyone to sign a non-disclosure paper stating that they would claim that the events that had occurred were merely a terrorist act involving massive amounts of hallucinogenic gas. Not that Xander or his friends believed that.

In fact, Daniel was positive there must have been something in the air. For it was only after that day that Xander began to become weaker. There were some mornings that he couldn't even get out of bed. Until one day, his legs could no longer hold him up. Daniel had to quickly catch the falling young man before Xander's face could meet the fake wood floor of their living room. Alexis had insisted on buying the best wheelchair money could buy and had it delivered the very next day.

Then the pain started. A bone deep ache that, at first, wasn't localized to anyone area. Pretty soon, Xander began complaining about a new ache in the back of his shoulders. The pain would come and go, but the doctors could find nothing wrong.

For two years, the Whites spent dollar after dollar, taking Xander to the best doctors. Xander tried to protest them spending all that money. However, the Whites owned a successful oil drilling company and were quite wealthy. They were also the type of people to help out a stranger if they needed it. So, just as they had given Xander a place to live, they had insisted on paying for his medical expenses when it became clear that something was wrong. They even insisted on finding the best doctors in the field. At one point, the doctors had considered a disease called Fybromyalgia. But as he didn't react in pain to any of what the doctors called tender points, that disease was ruled out. It didn't matter what new disease the doctors came up with. Each time, the tests would be negative. The doctors could find nothing wrong. Oh, it was obvious Xander was suffering, but they could find no underlying cause. And each month Xander seemed to get worse. Finally, Xander said enough was enough and demanded no more doctors' visits. It wasn't doing any good and he insisted that if he was going to die, as seemed more likely as time wore on, he didn't want to spend the rest of his life miserably going from doc to doc. The Whites had reluctantly agreed when he had given them his patented puppy dog look.

Not that they didn't still worry about him. On top of the debilitating pain, more and more he seemed to be forgetting the little things. Daniel had been joking with him about light sabers one night when Xander had innocently asked what a light saber was. As it stood now, Xander had forgotten a good portion of the things he had grown up on, Marvel comics and super heroes, Star Wars and Transformers. Increasingly, he would have bouts of childlike behavior. After each episode, he would be acutely embarrassed for acting out and they would try to go on as if it never occurred. Those bouts were happening more and more. Unfortunately, the doctors could find nothing wrong with his brain.

Now Xander and Daniel had just arrived at The Lookout. Alexis had been unable to come due to a meeting she had scheduled out of town and she wouldn't be back for weeks. The Lookout was a popular make out place for teens over the weekend. However, invariably, during the week, the place would be nearly deserted. It also happened to be the best place to view the stars in the surrounding area, a favorite pastime of Xander's. Neither of them were aware of what was soon to occur that would change Xander's whole life.

* * *

Xander wasn't sure why, but for the past few hours he had run the gamut of emotions. At first he was excited and happy, probably to be out stargazing. But then there had been frustration. Nothing seemed to be right. Not the place Daniel had put his chair, not the way the pillow at his back was fluffed. All the little irritants causing Xander to snap at his friend. Oh, he had immediately apologized, not sure why he was so volatile and they had let the matter drop.

Now, it appeared as though a cop was pulling up at the lookout. The only time cops came up to the cliff was when they were looking for someone and Xander and Daniel were the only ones there.

Xander watched as a cop car, a Dodge Charger by the looks of it, pulled in beside Daniel's car. He looked at his friend in worry. They hadn't been doing anything wrong had they?

The cop quickly got out of his car and glanced around the area frantically. His gaze kept returning to Xander where it would pause before it would look in the nearby brush.

Xander started to feel a little sad the police officer was not finding what he was looking for.

Finally the officer's gaze focused on the two friends. He strode over to them, saying brusquely, "Excuse me, Gentlemen. But have you seen anything unusual around here?"

Daniel blinked. "Unusual?"

"Something resembling a big metal egg . . . or perhaps a life sized metal doll?" The officer pressed urgently. Daniel could tell by his voice that this thing, whatever it was, was important to the cop.

"No, sir. Can't say I have? Xander?" Daniel shook his head and then turned to his friend.

Xander, however, hadn't been listening to the conversation at all. Instead, with his head cocked to the side, he had been focusing solely on the cop. There was something familiar about him, but for the life of him, Xander didn't know what it was.

"Are you sur. . ." The officer trailed off, his bright blue eyes focused on Xander's. His face took on a dawning look of comprehension and shock, quickly followed by a decidedly down turned face as the car behind him gave a visible shudder. "No. . ."

Xander blinked in confusion. Why was he suddenly so disappointed and upset? He looked at the officer and realized it wasn't him. Suddenly he felt like a little kid who had disappointed their favorite relative. He couldn't help himself, he burst out crying, hugging himself as he whimpered repeatedly that he was sorry.

Daniel rushed to comfort his friend, not noticing the cop momentarily fizzling out of focus like bad reception on a television. Then the officer crooned soft beeps and whistles at Xander, which although he didn't understand them, did surprisingly comfort him. The officer crouched down by Xander's chair, resting on hand on the chair itself, he looked up at the still sniffling young man.

Xander couldn't stop sniffling as he rubbed at his face. Now it felt as if he was enveloped in a warm hug. As if someone really cared about him. It was one of the nicest feelings Xander had ever experienced. Xander looked down at tender blue eyes that almost seemed to glow. Slowly the officer raised a hand up to brush against his cheek.

Xander stiffened and the cop froze completely as that same metallic masculine voice that seemed to be haunting him intoned, "Acquiring final data. . . Initializing final procedure. . . "

Then the world burned to pieces around him.

TBC.

End Note: If anyone has a bot or human they want Sparkling Xander to meet or idea for a scene, let me know. I only have a few ideas for the next few scenes. . .so any suggestions couldn't hurt.

End Note 2: While the characters Daniel and Alexis White are OCs to Transformers, the names Daniel, Alexis, and White are not. Virtual cookies for whoever figures out where I got those three names.


	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: See part 1  
Beta: Eternity and Lady FoxFire  
Warning: Slash  
Pairings: Prowl x Jazz  
Note: Because Decepticons learned of the base on Diego Garcia, the Autobots and friends were forced to move to a secondary location near where the first battle was fought.  
Note 2: unfamiliar terms at bottom

Part 2

Autobot Base (Undisclosed Location, Arizona)

Prowl waited impatiently for Ratchet to finish a system's check of him and his men. He had insisted on being the final one to be checked and the other newly arrived bots had already wandered off. Red Alert was already inspecting the base for needed security upgrades and Sunstreaker had wandered off with his twin complaining about Sideswipe's bland silver paint job. Prowl wasn't surprised.

It had been nearly two meta-cycles(1) since his twin had been thrown off course. When Sideswipe had been thrown from the formation as they made their way to a nearby star system, Sunstreaker had been near mad with worry. It was only Prowl's firm order to stay, the fact that Red Alert was still with the group, and the fact that Sideswipe was not hurt that let the bot remain. When Sideswipe comm'd that he had received a message from Prime, Prowl had acknowledged the information and ordered Sideswipe to head toward the coordinates, that they would be following after they had finished their mission in the nearby star system.

Now, Prowl's body may have been perfectly still, but for those who knew to look, his doorwings would give away his mood every time. At the moment, they were twitching minutely. He had been anticipating the reunion with his sparkmate(2) for nearly three meta-cycles. He had been surprised at first when he found out, but soon came to be pleased with the knowledge and couldn't wait to get to the blue planet his mate was on. Now that he was here, Prowl had to stop himself from revving his engine in anticipation and he couldn't stop his optics from giving his mate, who was in the med bay because of an injury he had gotten soon after arriving on the planet, furtive glances.

When Megatron had attempted to tear him in two, there had been a lot of structural damage done to his torso. Ratchet had repaired what he could, but he had no choice and had to use some earth materials that weren't as strong as Cybertron's. Unfortunately, that left Jazz's torso weak and prone to injury. He had been dosing Jazz with a med grade energon laced with trans-metal(3) to help strengthen the area, but it took time to strengthen. Ratchet was hopeful that this would be the last time he would have Jazz in his med bay for this particular problem.

"You're fine, Prowl," Ratchet grumbled. "Go see your mate."

Prowl didn't wait for Ratchet to finish, he quickly got up and strode over to the grinning solstice. "Jazz."

Jazz grinned, happy to feel his sparkmate so close. "Prowler."

Prowl's wings twitched in mild annoyance at the nickname his mate insisted on calling him, before finally settling. He never could get his mate to stop with that annoying nickname. It was just the way Jazz was. "Where is he? I would have expected to see him by your side."

Jazz's eyes shuttered off for a moment. "He? He who?"

Prowl's eyes blinked on and off. "Oh, is it a femme? As femmes are so rare, I assumed the little one was a mech. Especially for her to choose so young(4). I apologize."

Jazz looked at his mate in concern. "What ya talking bout, Prowler?"

Prowl's doorwings arched up in a 'v' formation. "The sparkling."

"What sparkling ya talking about?"

"Our sparkling," Prowl insisted. "I have felt her spark(5) for approximately three meta-cycles."

Jazz shakes his head, looking at Prowl with concern. "Ah don't know what yer talking bout. Ah haven't had no sparkling. Pits, Prowl. We haven't even seen each other in over 200 vorns(6)! There ain't no way Ah got sparked(7)!"

Prowl stood silent as he processed his mate's words. "While your words are true, I can not deny what my spark feels."

Jazz reached a servo out toward his mate, wanting to offer comfort. "Hey Ratch, can you come over here? Ah think there's something wrong with Prowl."

Prowl took a step back, letting his mate's servo fall back. His doorwings still arched in a rigid 'v' shape, he gazed at Jazz with a sad but determined look. "Sparks cannot lie. There is a sparkling. I have felt him. I will find him."

With that Prowl swiftly turned around and exited the med bay as Ratchet came over to see what Jazz wanted.

* * *

Prowl drove down the highway, his thoughts rushing furiously through his processor. He didn't know how, but he had been feeling the bond of a young spark. He wasn't sure why Jazz was unaware of the spark and he was upset that Jazz hadn't felt it. He had first felt the little one through his sparkmate, making him believe that Jazz had sparked the little one. Truthfully, the fact that they had been separated for longer then it would take for a sparkling to be born had made his battle computer freeze up as it tried to determine how Jazz had accomplished it. After First Aid had gotten him functioning, he had put that question aside to avoid further crashes.

As he got closer to the spark he could feel through the bond, he pinged it hoping for a response. When he got no response, he gunned his engine and sped down the road, fearing that the sparkling was too hurt to reply. Or even worse, it was in stasis lock and close to death. He quickly approached where he could still feel the sparkling.

Slowing down as he drove up a dirt road, his scanners showed that two of the planet's life forms, humans, were near the location of the sparkling. It frustrated him to be so close and now there were humans he had to hide from, making his search that more difficult as he couldn't transform.

Remembering to use his holoform(8), he pulled into a parking spot next to the human's mode of transportation, a lifeless drone car. Quickly getting out of his car form, he began to look around the area for the sparkling. The lack of response meant it had to be unconscious or near that state. This meant the sparkling was either in root form or it had turned into pod form, the form that resembled an egg like shape that allowed Cybertronians to travel through space, for protection.

As his scanners searched through the brush, his gaze kept returning to one of the human life forms who was seated in a funny chair with large wheels, which a quick scan of the human's global network, something called the internet, told him was a wheelchair used for those whose legs did not function properly.

After a dozen scans, Prowl still could not find the metallic body he was searching for. Finally, he decided to question the two humans. Perhaps they had seen something.

He walked over to them and said, "Excuse me, Gentlemen. But have you seen anything unusual around here?"

The standing human blinked in confusion. "Unusual?"

Prowl tore his eyes from the sitting human to stare intently at the one who had spoken. He knew the sparkling had to be around there, he could feel the little one's emotions so strongly. It was sad and curious about something. "Something resembling a big metal egg . . . or perhaps a life sized metal doll?"

"No sir. Can't say I have," the man said before turning to his companion. "Xander?"

"Are you sur. . ." Prowl's voice trailed off as he realized that the emotions he was feeling were coming from the human boy. He couldn't help it, despite his years of experience of hiding; his body shuddered from the shock, not sure how he could have a bond with an organic. "No. . ."

There was no way he could express his disappointment. He had been excited to think that his sparkmate and he had created a little sparkling. And to find the bond was actually a human. It wasn't that he disliked humans. Quite the contrary, organic creatures were often very interesting and what little he knew about humans made him think they would be very interesting. But he couldn't help but be sad that there was no sparkling at the end of the bond.

Suddenly, the boy crossed his arms. He started leaking from his eyes, what his research described as tears, and whimpering, the boy began to say he was sorry and he didn't mean it. At the same moment, Prowl was hit with guilt and sorrow through the bond. His holoform flickered briefly as he was bombarded with feelings of unworthiness.

As his brain processed what had happened, he decided that it didn't matter how the child had become bound to him and his sparkmate. He would treat the human boy like his own sparkling. As he felt through the parent-child bond(9) they shared, the human was already his.

Kneeling down, Prowl crooned softly to the child in Cybertronian, murmuring softly that things would be okay. Gently, he pushed feelings of love and affection at the youth. The youth's sobs quieted down and he rubbed at his face. Reaching up, Prowl moved to wipe the tears from the boy's face.

When the fingers of his holoform touched the boy's skin every part of his being seemed to stall. He barely noticed that the boy was frozen as well as he heard an unfamiliar voice intoning, "Acquiring final data. . . Initializing final procedure. . . "

Then the boy began to scream and Prowl found that he could get nothing through the bond but agonizing pain.

TBC

Terms

1) Meta-cycle - 13 months  
2) Sparkmate - Two or more Cybertronians who were made for each other, like earth soul mates. They are considered married.  
3) Trans-metal - a metal used in the construction of sparkling bodies for its unique ability to transform to a form more comfortable for the individual spark. It is also used on bots who have suffered debilitating injuries.  
4) Mech vs. Femme - As there is no anatomical difference between the two, the decision to be called a mech versus a femme is something every Cybertronian decides as they grow when they feel closer to one gender.  
5) Spark - a Cybertronian soul. Without it, the Cybertronian body is just a mechanical drone.  
6) Vorn - 83 years  
7) Sparked - When a Cybertronian becomes pregnant with their sparkmates sparkling. This can only happen with a sparkmated pair.  
8) Holoform - an advanced form of holo projection that all Cybertronians have which gives Cybertronians the ability to interact with organics while remaining hidden.  
9) Parent-child bond - one of the stronger types of bonds, it is a sparkbond between a sparkling and his parents. It can transmit feelings both ways.


	3. Part 3

Disclaimer: See part 1  
Beta: Eternity and Lady FoxFire  
Warning: Slash  
Pairings (children): Prowl x Jazz; (Sunstreaker=Sideswipe)  
Note: [[bond speak]]; **comm. speak**  
Note 2: unfamiliar terms at bottom

Time Terms  
Breem – 8.3 minutes  
Meta-cycle – 13 months

Part 3

Daniel stared in horror as Xander writhed in agony in his chair. "What did you do to him?"

Making a swift decision, Prowl quickly scooped up the screaming boy, despite the standing human's protests, and headed for his vehicle form. "If you wish to accompany us, I suggest you get in my vehicle."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, "Where are you taking him? The hospital?"

Prowl's eyes flicked to the human briefly as he gently laid the boy in his back seat, sending warm emotions through the link in an attempt to ease the boy's pain. "No. To my medic. He is more qualified than any of your so-called 'doctors'. If you are coming, get in now as I will not wait."

Daniel jumped into the car and positioned Xander so that his head was in his lap. He was reaching for the door handle when it slammed shut, nearly smashing into his fingers. Daniel blinked at the door. Did it just shut . . . by itself? He glanced at the officer in confusion.

The officer gave one last concerned look to the now whimpering Xander and then stared hard at Daniel. "Keep the youngling as comfortable as possible."

"Youn-, What the?" Daniel opened his mouth to question the officer, when the man suddenly disappeared.

When the car's ignition turned over, Daniel turned to stare at the driver's seat in front of him, which was still empty. "What the hell?"

"Do not be concerned. I simply did not have enough energy to continue the holoform," Prowl's voice issued from the radio. "Try to make the youngling comfortable. All will be explained at a later time."

Daniel frowned but looked down at Xander. Seeing Xander's scrunched up face, he stroked his forehead. "It better be one hell of an explanation."

Prowl ignored the human for the time being, he was too preoccupied with other concerns. For instance, his mate had been battering at his mind shields for a while now.

[[Prowl! Are you all right? What's wrong? How bad are ya hurt?]]

[[I am fine Jazz. It is the sparkling. Or more precisely, the human youngling we are both bound to.]]

[[What?]]

Prowl sent a brief data burst containing all that had occurred in the last ten minutes.

[[How could Ah have missed this?]]

[[I have accepted the adoption(1), Jazz. We are enroute and will be there in approximately four breems.]]

Jazz sent his own agreement over the bond and he began to send his own affection through the bond to the human boy. Now that he knew the bond existed, he could feel the boy just as well as Prowl could. [[Ah'll let Ratchet know it's not you and he's got incoming.]]

[[Agreed.]]

Xander began to whimper more loudly as he attempted to toss and turn in obvious discomfort.

"Shh, Xander," Daniel said. "We're taking you to a doctor. You'll be better soon."

But Xander didn't seem to hear his friend. He continued to try to get out of his friend's hold. Prowl scanned the youth and nearly stalled in shock. Turning on his sirens, he increased his speed to the maximum an unprotected human could stand. "Turn him over."

"What?" Daniel exclaimed.

"Get him off his back. Now, human," Prowl growled.

[[Prowl? What is it?]] Jazz asked through the bond. He had felt the increase in pain coming from the human boy, whose name he did not know and then the increase in worry from his bond mate.

A little scared, Daniel complied with the order. When he looked down at Xander's back, which now faced the front seat, he gasped in shock. Immediately, he reached to put pressure on what appeared to be two wounds on his upper back. "Oh god! He's bleeding! Jesus! What are those?"

When he placed his hands on the bloody spots, he had found what Prowl had already discovered, two protrusions were beginning to grow out of Xander's back. Daniel had no idea what they were, but Prowl knew.

[[Wing nubs.]]

For a moment, Jazz was silent in shock. Wing nubs were the precursor for wings in Cybertronian sparklings. Both flying types and those who merely had sensory wings developed them. [[What?]]

Prowl sighed mentally, sending the scan he had just done to his mate. [[The youngling is developing wing nubs.]]

"[[Ratchet!]]" Alarmed, Jazz didn't realize that he had yelled both aloud and through the bond for the medic.

Prowl had already been in comm contact with Rachet after Jazz had informed the medic bot what the circumstances were. Prowl had been keeping him updated on the boy's status. Under his suggestions, Prowl sent a low frequency hum through his body, which seemed to help settle the boy, though he was still in obvious pain.

** What's your ETA?** Ratchet demanded.

**Three breems,** Prowl commed.

**I'll be waiting in the med bay.**

**Acknowledged.** Prowl confirmed and then cut the communication.

* * *

Prowl barreled through the base, making a beeline for the large hanger that Ratchet had taken over for his med bay. His sirens warning any soldiers on the grounds to get out of his way because he wasn't stopping. He could see Jazz waiting impatiently by the open med bay doors, shifting from one foot to the other.

Hitting the breaks, Prowl's tires screeched as he swung his body around, leaving thick black skid marks on the concrete and coming to a stop with his rear passenger side door facing his anxious mate.

Crouching down, Jazz peered into the interior of his sparkmate's car form, his optics locking on the writhing boy, obviously still in pain, that he shared a parent-child bond with. When the other human gasped at his robot form, he took no notice. His optics were too busy drinking in the hurting youngling.

"What the hell!" Daniel stared in horror at the giant robot.

Prowl's back door opened with a soft click and Jazz wasted no time in plucking the young boy from the other human's grasp. Holding the child close to his spark, Jazz trilled softly at the moaning boy.

"Give him back! You. . .You. . ." Daniel spluttered as he scrambled out of what he assumed was a possessed police car.

Ignoring him, Jazz quickly stood and hurried into the med bay.

Behind him, Daniel could hear a strange sound, as if some big machinery was moving around. Turning around to face the cop car, he came face to . . . knee. Where the possessed cop car had once been, there was now another giant robot creature. Daniel stared at the thing's leg. At its shin it had in white letters, a boldly stamped out 'Patrol'. He looked up to see the car's doors had formed some sort of wings on which he could make out the bright white 'Police' logo. . .And were those some sort of rockets? . . . on the robots shoulders? He only had time for a quick glance at the robot before it was stepping over him and into the hanger. Frowning, Daniel started to follow to find out what these things were doing to Xander. He took one step and the big hanger door shut in his face.

"Sir."

Daniel glanced over to see that a number of soldiers had been attracted by the cop car's? … robot's? ... speedy entrance. The man was obviously military, with his short hair and penetrating brown eyes. He wore standard army fatigues and the patch on his breast indicated he was a major. He seemed to be a little young to be a major, but the other soldiers seemed to be deferring to him. "Yeah, what?"

"My name is Major Lennox," the man said as he reached a hand out. "If you'll just come with me."

Daniel stepped back. "I want to know what's going on!"

Lennox glanced at the big black Topkick behind him and then the bulky black man that was standing right behind him, before turning back to Daniel. "And I'll be happy to explain, sir. But first, we need to ask you some questions. So if you could please follow Sergeant Epps."

Daniel looked at the man Lennox had gestured to. Reluctantly, he followed him. He did want to get out of the cold night air. He'd go with the man, but someone had better tell him what was happening with Xander. Soon.

* * *

Red Alert nudged the med bay door open. He had heard Prowl had brought two humans in. Two civilian humans. It was a huge breach in security. Security, which Red Alert felt was lacking enough as it was. While the human major had been able to waylay that one human, he didn't seem to know anything. The only beings with knowledge of the situation were in Ratchet's med bay. They had answers and he was going to get them.

"Not now, Red Alert," Ratchet said gruffly not look up from his examination of the human.

Red Alert peered around Ratchet's hunched over form to see the human without its protective outer layering, what humans called clothes. He glanced at the small pile of clothes that Ratchet had cut from the youngling's body and cast aside before he turned his optics on the youngling himself. The youngling seemed dwarfed by the med berth that Prime himself could easily lay on.

The boy's skin seemed to be a paler shade than any human he had encountered. Lying on his stomach, Red Alert could easily see the two small protrusions from the boys back that, strangely enough, reminded him of wing nubs, but he could be wrong. The youngling seemed to have no mass to him. Red Alert could easily see the youngling's bone structure and it seemed like it was becoming clearer as he studied the boy. He noticed that Ratchet had already attached an IV to one of the boy's delicate looking wrist and a milky white solution was being fed to the youngling's vein. Glancing back at the strange protrusions, he stopped as his optics fell on the boy's shoulder. Red Alert's optics blinked off in shock. . . Was that metal on the younglings shoulder?

"Leave. Now," Ratchet demanded as he busily mixed chemicals together, "and take those two with you."

Prowl and Jazz, who had been hovering by the youngling's head jerked up from their crouched down position. Red Alert, however, was more interested in what Ratchet was mixing. That wasn't trans-metal, was it? Why would he be mixing a trans-metal solution for a human youngling?

"What! Ya can't make us leave 'im, Ratch!" Jazz protested.

"If you want me to help this human, you need to not be in my way," Ratchet growled, "and right now. You. Are. In. My. Way."

"Would it not be more efficient to project comfort through the bond?" Prowl asked.

Red Alert froze. What bond was Prowl talking about?

"Send as much comfort as you want, but do it outside! It won't make any difference to the boy where you are, but it does to me." Ratchet stopped what he was doing to glare at the second and third in command of the Autobots. "Now do you want me to help the boy?"

Jazz nodded his head as Prowl gave a firm, "Yes."

"Then LEAVE!" Ratchet demanded.

Jazz made to protest, but Prowl placed a servo gently on his arm and pulled him back. "We will wait outside."

Ratchet released a puff of air as he went back to his patient.

Prowl quickly ushered Jazz out behind Red Alert.

[[Prowl!]] Jazz whined.

Prowl servo traced down his mate's arm in comfort. [[Ratchet was getting distracted by us. You can still feel him?]]

Jazz nodded. He still could, even if it was subdued because of the sedatives Ratchet had already given the boy. It didn't stop him from wanting to be close to the boy. If he had a parent-child bond with the kid, then he was going to do right and be there for him. But how could he when his own mate dragged him out of there?

[[Then he can still feel you,]] Prowl explained. [[I want to be in there as well, Jazz. At the moment, that is not possible.]]

"Prowl, Jazz," Red Alert interrupted their bond link conversation. He knew that they were talking to each other and had only waited until Prowl had calmed down his mate. He wanted answers and hysterical mechs never gave coherent ones. "Would you mind telling me why we now have two human civilians on base?"

Prowl and Jazz both turned to stare at the Autobot's Chief of Security.

"Jazz and I have a parent-child bond with the human youngling," Prowl stated.

Red Alert's optics blinked off and on. "A parent-child bond?"

"Yes."

"How is that even possible? He's organic."

Prowl's doorwings, which had been held up rigidly in his agitation, fluttered briefly in consternation. "Unknown. However, I have felt a young spark for three meta-cycles."

Jazz looked at his mate in confusion.

"When I arrived and found that Jazz had no knowledge of the bond, I determined the wisest course of action was to find the sparkling myself," Prowl explained.

"And you found the bond was to this. . .human?"

"Correct."

"A full parent-child bond?"

"Through Jazz. Yes."

Red Alert turned to Jazz and asked, "And you were not aware of this, bond?"

Jazz shook his head, which caused both mechs to stare at him in curiosity. Neither had been around humans to start picking up their mannerisms. To clarify, he said, "Nope. It was there in the back of mah spark, but Ah didn't notice it until Prowl showed me."

"That was the way my bond with the child felt. Then my holoform touched him," Prowl explained, "and I heard a voice."

Red Alert stilled, his optics focusing on Prowl. Even he didn't hear voices and he had a genuine glitch. Was this some sign that Prowl had been compromised? No, he had been with Prowl for vorns. It had been nearly a meta-cycle ago, when Prowl had confided with his team that he had felt the presence of another in his bond with his mate. Struggling to control his paranoia, Red Alert's optics blinked off and on and he tried to focus on what Prowl had been saying. "A voice?"

"Yes. A voice pattern I do not recognize stated that it had acquired the final data and it was processing. At that point, the boy began screaming in pain," Prowl said, his voice soft, but firm.

Jazz stared at his mate. His head tilted as if he was trying to figure something out.

Red Alert's processors whirred, trying to make sense of what he was being told. "And just when did you first feel this bond?"

"Approximately three meta-cycles," Prowl said, "just before my spark sputtered(2)."

"What?" Jazz exclaimed.

Red Alert looked at Jazz. "That's why none of us were surprised you were still injured. Prowl had felt it through your mate bond."

Jazz turned to his mate. "Aw, Prowler. . ."

"So," Red Alert brought them back to the topic at hand, "you felt the parent-child bond at the back of your spark right before Jazz was injured?"

"Yes."

"Oh man," Jazz said in dawning realization.

The other two turned toward him. Prowl asking in concern, "What? What is it?"

Jazz's visor blinked. "Ah think. . . .Ah think Ah know the boy."

Prowl's doorwings flew up sharply in shock. "What?"

Jazz looked straight at Prowl's optics. "Tha boy. Ah 'member him from Mission City. He knew me. Knew mah name. . .and he knew that I'd hafta fight Megatron. . .," Jazz paused to think about the events that day. Jazz's visor blinked off and on as he remembered a strange occurrence that he had put little thought into. Indeed, he never would have remembered if Prowl hadn't said something, so he asked his sparkmate, "And ya said ya heard a weird voice?"

"Yes. It said something about acquiring some data," Prowl acknowledged.

Jazz let out a puff of air through his vents. "Ah heard it too! Right after Ah brushed my digit over 'im to make sure he was alright."

Prowl stood frozen, staring at his mate.

"When was this?" Red Alert asked.

"During the battle of Mission City. He was there with a couple other humans."

Red Alert hummed in thought. It wasn't clear how the bond had occurred, but it was becoming obvious that the boy had had contact with both mechs.

Just then, the large hanger door opened enough for Ratchet to exit.

The three bots turned to him in anticipation.

Ratchet glanced at the waiting bots. "The boy's stabilized. Prowl, Jazz, I need to see you."

Red Alert opened his mouth to protest.

"Not now, Red. Right now, as they have a parent bond with the boy, they need to know," Ratchet explained as he turned to head back into his domain. "I'm sure you'll be informed eventually. Oh and Optimus, you might as well come too."

Red Alert turned to see Optimus Prime lurking a few steps behind him. With a brief nod, that Red Alert did not understand, Optimus followed his second and third in command into the medical bay, hoping to find out what was going on.

TBC

Terms

1) Cybertronian adoption – adoptions can occur when a parent or sibling accepts another into their spark. By accepting the 'adoption', the mech means that they have accepted the bond that has formed whether it be a parent-child or sibling bond. There is no difference between adopted and non-adopted bonds.  
2) Spark sputter – a condition in which a Cybertronian's spark fluctuates rapidly usually caused by outside forces, either severe trauma to their mate or to themselves.

End note: I have seen the idea of wing nubs in a few different fics. Most notably is NovaBlastTF's story, 'Daycare'. It is her story that inspired my inclusion of the wingnubs.


	4. Part  4

Disclaimer: See part 1  
Beta: Jilly and Lady FoxFire  
Warning: Slash  
Pairings (children): Prowl x Jazz; (Sunstreaker=Sideswipe)  
Warning: This is AU. It has slash between bots that technically have no gender. If you do not like this, I suggest you stop reading now.  
Note: Unfortunately, there's not much of Xander in this chapter or the next one. However, Sam does show up (in the next chapter) and some things are finally explained.

Note 2: unfamiliar terms at bottom

Time Terms  
Mega-cycle – 93 hours  
Meta-cycle – 13 months

Part 4

Upon entering the med bay, both Jazz and Prowl made a beeline for their youngling's sedated form. At the top of the berth with a small human pillow beneath his turned face, the boy lay on his stomach. A silver med-blanket covered all but his upper back, keeping his body warm. Prowl noted that the exposed wing nubs had already started to develop into distinctive sensory wings, although they were barely formed. He also noticed that the youngling was hooked up to two different solutions. One was the sedative that Ratchet had started earlier. The other one made Prowl pause because it could not be what it looked like. It couldn't be a trans-metal solution. Then again, an organic developing sensory wings was not something Prowl had ever contemplated either. If he wasn't so concerned about the youngling's pain, his battle computer would probably have analyzed how it could happen and he would have found himself on another of Ratchet's berths.

Jazz, unlike his mate, didn't linger on the boy's new appendages. Instead, he stared intently at his face, noting that his forehead would furrow every few seconds as a spasm of pain could be felt through the parent bond. Jazz turned to look at Ratchet, asking, "Ratch? He's still hurtin'. Can't ya give 'im something stronger?"

Ratchet looked at the expectant faces of both Jazz and Prowl. He let a slow puff of air through his vents. "No. I gave the highest painkiller a human can withstand. Even though the boy is becoming Cybertronian, I can't risk giving him even a sparkling dosage. Not while he still has organic bits."

All the other bots in the room froze staring at Ratchet.

Jazz was the first to recover. "What do ya mean, becoming Cybertronian?"

Ratchet lifted his brow and gave his long time friend a smirk. "Simple. He was human, now he's not."

Prowl's doorwings stilled and became rigid at the medics unsatisfactory answer. Staring hard at the yellow-green bot, he simply said, "Explain."

Ratchet dropped the smirk as his mouth turned down. He gave another puff through his vents. "For some reason, every molecule in his body is converting from a human organic one, to Cybertronian, with all the equivalent Cybertronian metals and fluids. From the scans I ran, it seems he is getting his primary code from you two."

Jazz's optics blinked off and on before he turned his gaze back to the unconscious human. "Ya mean, we really are the little one's creators?"

Ratchet agreed, "It seems that way. Although I will need to run a full scan once the conversion finishes."

Optimus, who had been silent until then, looked at the boy before returning his gaze to Ratchet. "How is this possible? Could this happen to our human allies?"

Ratchet gave a short puff of air that sounded suspiciously like a human snorting. "Primus only knows. Even Sam didn't show these types of drastic changes. And he handled both the All Spark and the Matrix! I can't find one medical reason for this to happen."

After a long pause, Optimus tilted his head and gave Ratchet a thoughtful look. "You are right."

Ratchet blinked his optics off and on. He gave his leader a wary look before asking, "About what?"

"Primus is the only one who knows the answer," Optimus replied.

Now the other bots were staring at Optimus.

After a moment, it was Jazz who broke the silence. "Too bad we can't just ask 'im."

Optimus looked thoughtfully at Jazz. "Maybe we can."

Prowl looked at his leader in confusion. "But, sir, the only way to contact Primus was through the All Spark. Even then there was a low probability of success."

"There is another way to get through to Primus," Optimus replied.

The other bots stared at him, not sure what he was getting at.

Smiling softly, Optimus said gently, "The Dynasty of Primes."

Jazz's optics blinked in understanding. "Ya talking 'bout that ol' folk tale 'bout how the current Prime can use the All Spark ta speak to their predecessors?"

"Yes."

Prowl frowned. From what he understood, contacting the old Primes, while easier than contacting Primus, also needed the All Spark. "But sir, with the All Spark gone, is not that avenue no longer feasible?"

Optimus looked solemnly at Prowl. "There is a way to contact them without using the all spark."

Ratchet gave an inarticulate gurgle as he tried to get the words out. "You can't mean. . ."

Optimus interrupted, answering Ratchet's half-asked question, "I do."

Ratchet frowned. "The boy hasn't even accepted the truth yet."

Optimus shut off his optics and let air slowly out of his vents. "All I can do is ask, Ratchet," he explained. Turning on his optics, he stared at Ratchet and asked, "What do you think will happen when our allies find out that a human changed into one of us?"

"They'll, as the humans say, 'freak'."

Prowl looked at the two bots in confusion, his wings arcing up into a 'v' formation as they fluttered minutely in his confusion. "What are you two discussing? What other option is there?"

Optimus turned to look at Prowl. "It is possible that the power of two living Primes concentrating on contacting the dynasty could bridge the gap and reach them."

Prowl frowned. "But there has never been more than one living Prime since the first Primes walked among us."

"There is now," Optimus told him.

Jazz's vents let out a short burst of air as he exclaimed, "Sam! You mean Sam!"

Prowl turned to his mate, not understanding what he was getting at. "Sam? You mean the boy, Samuel Witwicky?"

Jazz nodded, which Prowl was learning meant yes.

To clarify what the others were saying, Prowl asked, "You are saying he is a Prime?"

All the other bots nodded in confirmation of this fact.

"But how is that possible? He is human." Prowl couldn't understand how a human, an organic creature, could become a Prime.

"You know your Matrix lore, right?" Ratchet asked him.

Of course he knew his lore. "Yes. It is an artifact of great power, said to hold the wisdom of previous Primes. Only a Prime can wield it. It has been lost since the time of the ancients . . . But what does the Matrix have to do with the boy?"

"Samuel has the ability to use it," Optimus said softly.

Prowl stared at Optimus in shock. Finally, he turned to his mate to find out the truth. Part of being a sparkmate meant they could never lie to one another.

Hoping to clear up Prowl's confusion, Jazz explained, "The Matrix was on Earth and Sam could use it. A meta-cycle 'fore ya got here, The Fallen came. Sam had some info the cons wanted and they trapped him. When Optimus an' the others went to rescue him, things didn't go so well . . . "

Prowl's optics blinked. He and his six-man team had only arrived on Earth less than a mega-cycle ago. As he had immediately gone in search of the youngling after his medical check, he had not had a chance to go over mission logs. He had been told some of the names of people associated with the Autobots, but he was unaware of the events that had occurred on the planet.

Softly, Ratchet told him, "Optimus died protecting Sam."

Prowl froze at that information. He knew it was in Optimus' nature to protect others and he could easily see that happening. But that didn't explain how Optimus could be standing right next to him alive and well. His processor began to hurt as he tried to compile the data he had been given.

Jazz rushed over to Prowl, sending a wave of comfort through their bond. "Easy there, Prowler. Don't go crashing on me now."

Prowl looked at Jazz helplessly. "But? You? How? Optimus is not dead. He is right there. Unless you are trying to tell me that this mech is not Optimus Prime."

Optimus stood straight at Prowl's implication. But it was Ratchet's standard reaction that helped ease Prowl's concerns. "Of course he's Optimus Prime, you afthead!"

Jazz couldn't help but snicker. "Ya, cuz Sam brought him back with the Matrix."

"What?"

"Samuel was able to use the Matrix to bring me back to life," Optimus told Prowl.

Looking at his thinking mate, Jazz couldn't help but prompt, "Which means. . ."

"The boy is a Prime."

"Yu-p," popping the 'p' at the end, Jazz grinned as he gave his cheerful reply.

Prowl's optics blinked off and on as he asked incredulously, "A human Prime?"

"You bet'cha."

"Bet'cha?" Prowl blinked in confusion at Jazz, not understanding him. Finally, deciding to ignore the confusing language, he turned to something both Optimus and Ratchet had both mentioned. "He does not accept it?"

Optimus vented air slowly. "No. It seems the information is difficult for him to accept. He has asked for time to 'digest the new truths life was throwing him'."

Sometimes, when he was first introduced to a new culture, Prowl hated all the new terms that he had to learn the meaning to. It often left him struggling to understand his fellow bots. "Diges-?"

But then again, he had his mate to translate for him as Jazz was doing now. "He needs time ta understand that he's a Prime."

"Ah."

"It's not surprising really. For a human, he's accepted the situations our arrival has caused rather quickly," Ratchet said.

Jazz agreed with Ratchet's sentiment. "Yeah, he sure accepted his brother bond(1) with Bee real quick."

"Bumblebee shares a sibling bond with the boy? The human?" Prowl asked.

"Yes. Bumblebee's spark adopted Samuel as his brother. They have a strong bond," Optimus explained. Turning to Jazz, he corrected his assumption, "And Jazz, Samuel did not accept that bond at first. It took him nearly two meta-cycles to accept. Which is not that short a time for humans. In time, he will accept being a Prime."

"Except, you want to make that time now," Ratchet interrupted.

Solemnly, Optimus told them, "I see no other choice. I have already informed Bumblebee of my need to speak with Samuel."

* * *

Xander writhed in pain. Wave after wave of unrelenting agony tore through his body. It felt as if his bones, no his entire body, were in a vat of acid. For a time, there had been a barely there hum that he could feel throughout his body. It had helped with the pain, if only marginally. Then there had come a sense of not quite being a part of his body. That feeling was still there. Unfortunately, whatever was causing the dream-like feeling could only do so much. He still felt as if his bones were melting from the inside out.

The only concrete things that Xander could focus on were the voices. He'd been hearing them for a while. Pretty much since the pain had started. Each was distinct. Each carried a sense of comfort. Each encouraged Xander to hold on, that he could make it through the pain.

_"You are strong, young one."_

_"Hang in their, lil' mech. It'll be ova' soon"_

_"You **will** overcome the pain."_

Hearing those voices brought him comfort and Xander new that he would make it through.

TBC.

Terms

1. Sibling(brother) bond – A spark bond that occurs between Cybertronians who have the same parental unit. The more different the bots ideals, the weaker the sibling bond.


	5. Part 5

Disclaimer: See part 1  
Beta: Jilly and Lady FoxFire  
Warning: Slash  
Note: There's actually no Xander in this chapter and very little in the next part. Don't worry, it's finally getting to the point where he's a sparkling. This chapter is my attempt to explain to you readers what happened to Xander (with vague hints of things to come).

Part 5

Sam frowned as he listened to Optimus explain the situation. "So this kid . . . err, this guy . . . This Xander has been living with this Daniel White guy for three years and it's only now that he's turning into one of you?"

"Correct, Sam," Ratchet said from beside Optimus.

"And you need me to find out why?" Sam asked. He glanced over to the end of the med-berth he was on where the poor guy was lying down. He noticed that Jazz and Prowl, who he had yet to meet, were hovering by the boy. Occasionally, one of them would raise a hand . . . err, or claw in Jazz's case, to touch the boy and stop inches from him. Besides that, Sam could hear the two of them giving off soft chirps and beeps, which he assumed were mutterings of comfort to the poor guy.

"Yes, Samuel," Optimus said. "It requires at minimum two Primes to tal-"

"Stop right there, Optimus," Sam interrupted. "I already told you, I'm not a Prime. I can't be."

Four pairs of optics turned to stare at Sam. It must have been all the time he had spent around the Autobots, but Sam could read the emotions on what should have been expressionless faces. Optimus stared at him in that sad understanding way he had when Sam became stubborn, like when he had refused to help Optimus the last time. True, that had resulted in Optimus' death and Sam still felt guilty about that. However, he couldn't believe that he was Prime material. He just couldn't. Prowl looked at Sam with what seemed a calculating expression, as if he were judging him. Whether he was being judged good or bad, Sam couldn't tell. But the worst, the worst look was Jazz's. He just stared at Sam with this kicked puppy dog look where the puppy looked like at you like you were going to kick it again.

Sam fidgeted. "You, you said that Primes are your leaders. I'm not a leader."

Ratchet spoke up, "Bumblebee's report of your quest to find the Matrix would say otherwise."

Sam frowned. "That's different. I didn't have a choice. It was the only way to brin-, save Optimus."

"Samuel," Optimus said quietly.

Sam gazed up at Optimus.

"I was once like you," Optimus began. "I did not feel that I was the right mech to be chosen as the new Prime. But an old friend once told me: 'Sometimes, the best leader ain't the one who hungers fer the position, but the one who wants nothing to do with it. You may think you don't got the right circuits fer the job, but that doubt makes you grounded, makes you real'."

Sam's mouth quirked up in a half smile. It was kind of funny to hear Ironhide's speech patterns come in Optimus' deep baritone.

"Please, Sam," Jazz pleaded. "We need to know why this is happenin' to 'im."

Sam gazed at Jazz for a moment before looking down at his feet. He sighed and raised his head to stare at Optimus. "Fine. I'll help . . . Uh . . . what do I need to do?"

Optimus smiled. "To reach the Dynasty of Primes, we both must enter a state of meditation while thinking about talking to them."

Sam looked at Optimus in horror. "Meditation? I'm not very good at sitting still, Optimus."

"Do not worry, Samuel," Optimus said, "Ratchet will be assisting us to reach the appropriate state."

Sam turned to stare at Ratchet. His holoform already activated, Ratchet stood a few feet from Sam with a smirk on his face as he brandished a needle filled with some clear liquid for Sam's perusal. Sam gulped.

* * *

Sam blinked as the world came into focus around him. It looked the same as the last time he had been there. He could barely make out indistinct blue mountains in the distance, while the Primes stood nearby with a bright sun behind them, making it hard to see them.

Suddenly, a metal hand was placed in front of him on the ground. Sam looked up at the crouching Optimus, who though he was crouching low, still towered above the human. Sam scrambled onto the offered hand. Optimus then stood and let Sam sit on his shoulder so that he could have a better look at the past Primes. Sam counted to himself as the Primes surrounded them. There were twelve of them. Twice as many as the last time he was here. However, when being a Prime had been explained to him, Sam had been told that there had originally been thirteen Primes. That by the time they had come to earth, all but seven had been killed by a then unknown assailant. It was pretty obvious that the assailant had been the fallen Prime. Now Sam stared up . . . and up at the past Primes. Even on Optimus' shoulder, the past Primes towered above them.

Finally one of the Primes spoke. "Welcome, young Primes. You have questions?"

Sam gulped. As he stared at the impressive Prime, he thought he saw an indistinct blur behind him. But that was just his imagination, right?

Not realizing that Sam was not paying attention, Optimus responded to the first Prime respectfully saying, "Yes, Sirs. Recently, there was a young human boy. He has been transforming into one of us. Into a Cybertronian. We merely wished to know how this was possible."

All the Primes' optics looked between each other, a few even glancing at the shadowed blur that Sam had noticed. Then the Prime that spoke before answered. "The sparkling is not from our meta-verse."

Sam opened his mouth to ask about the unfamiliar term, but one of the Primes anticipated his question. "A meta-verse is a group of universes that have similar aspects. In our case, Cybertron was allowed to develop and the race of Transformers came to be. This is not so in every universe."

The first Prime cleared his vents, interrupting the explanation. "Ahem. When he came to our universes, there was something missing from his human spark."

Sam couldn't help but interject, "Sorry to interrupt. But humans don't have sparks."

The first Prime gave a soft smile and looked down at Sam. Sam fidgeted in his seat until the Prime said, "While humans do not have a physical manifestation of their spark. Humans do indeed have a more dispersed spark. I believe humans call it a soul."

Sam blinked. A soul? The sparks were souls?

"And the sparkling was missing part of his spark?" Optimus asked, trying to understand.

It was the first Prime who acted as spokesperson for the group and answered. "Yes. Without interference, the sparkling's spark would have extinguished within a meta-cycle."

"Meta-cycle . . . thirteen months," Sam muttered to himself before looking up at the Primes and asking, "You're saying that the guy would have died within a year?"

"Yes."

Now, Sam was confused. It was obvious that the guy hadn't died. "So what happened? Because he's been here for three years now."

The Primes looked at each other before the spokesperson said one name. "Primus."

Sam snorted at the answer and sarcastically said to himself, "Primus. Of course the answer is Primus."

Optimus let air out of his vents slowly in what seemed like a human sigh. "You have to excuse Samuel. He is still coming to terms with being a Prime."

Sam turned to look at the close up view of Optimus' chin, frowning.

The first Prime smiled. "Not necessary. It is refreshing to talk to one so up front in their views."

Optimus blinked his optics off and on. To him these Primes were the stuff of legends. He couldn't help but be respectful. And they didn't mind Sam's less than respectful tone. His optics blinked a few more times before he came back to the entire reason he and Sam had contacted the Primes. "You were saying that Primus is responsible for the sparkling's changing? How is that possible? I didn't think an organic being could transform into an inorganic one."

"Primus noticed when the sparkling first arrived and decided to help fill in the missing pieces of his spark. He set up a program in his spark to acquire the necessary pieces from the first being he encountered," the first prime explained.

Sam held up his hand, palm facing forward in a stopping gesture as he realized that the statement didn't make sense. "Wait a minute! The first being he encountered was his friend. That Daniel White guy. Shouldn't he have gotten this spark, err soul stuff from him?"

The Primes all froze and stared at one another. Finally, a second Prime spoke up. "Err, well . . . you see . . . the program did not recognize the organic life form as having a spark. It . . . it made a mistake."

Optimus followed the logic. The program had made a mistake in defining a spark or soul. Primus had created the program . . . Therefore . . . He looked at the Primes incredulously. "Primus made a mistake?"

Sam saw as each Prime looked at each other, some even glancing at the shadowed blur he had noticed earlier. Finally, the first Prime said firmly, "We don't wish to talk about that. What's done is done."

Optimus gave the Prime a good long stare before abiding by the Primes command and dropping the matter. "So the first being that was recognized was Jazz?"

Again, the Primes paused for a long moment. "Err . . . Jazz was the first . . . uh, mature Cybertronian the sparkling encountered. And through him, the program gathered data on his sparkmate as well. Once his sparkmate made contact, the program was able to gather the final data needed and set off a reaction to complete the transformation."

"So is he completely a Transformer now, a Cybertronian?" Sam asked.

"While there is little left of his human origins, for all intents and purposes, the sparkling is merely that. A Cybertronian sparkling with all of its coding coming from its creators," the spokesperson Prime quickly answered.

Sam blinked at the answer. He looked suspiciously at the Prime and asked, "All of? You mean Jazz and Prowl, right?"

The Primes once again shared looks amongst themselves and the shadow.

While Sam waited for an answer to his question, he noticed the world around him was becoming less distinct and more blurry. At the same time, that indistinct shadowed blur began to look more and more like an additional Prime. He only got a glimpse as he and Optimus left the past Primes, but it looked as if the new Prime was sad for some reason and weighted down.

For a short period of time after the youngest Primes had gone, none of the Primes talked or did much except for making room for the once shadowed bot.

The bot looked at his brothers before saying timidly, "Perhaps you should have told them."

The Prime who had given the information about Primus' oops moment gave a negative answer before saying, "They were given the information they were seeking."

The first Prime agreed with his brother, stating firmly, "He is right. They were told what they needed."

The timid bot couldn't help but ask, "But what about . . .?"

The first Prime let air out of his vents. He and his fellow Primes were dead. There was only so much they could do to help their living brothers. While they were allowed to watch the lives of the still alive bots, they couldn't interact with them. In fact, it was only when a living Prime came to visit them that they could offer advice to the living. Still according to the creator's will, they were only allowed to reveal so much. The first Prime only hoped it was enough.

"There is only so much we are allowed to answer. They must discover the rest on their own."

TBC.


	6. part 6

**Part 6**

Disclaimer: See part 1  
Beta: Jilly, Lady FoxFire, and Tenshi of Light21/DaemonicKitten  
Warning: Slash  
Pairings ([adopted] children): Because some of the families keep getting bigger, I have created a couple family trees. If you are interested, follow the links. However, some of the trees have spoilers. Prowl's family (http:/jadeaislin. deviantart. com/#/d3rfvm4); Ratchet's family (http:/jadeaislin. deviantart. com/#/d3rfvdv); (Bumblebee, [Sam])

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, but I wanted to change one part and had to get my muse to help with it. On top of that my family recieved terrible news that my brother had died and I wasn't really feeling that up to writing. As I will not be changing the next few chapters, they should come out sooner.

Note 1: unfamiliar terms at bottom  
Note 2: [[bond speak]]

Time Terms   
Breem – 8.3 minutes  
Mega-cycle – 93 hours; nearly four days  
Vorn – 83 years

Part 6

It had been over a mega-cycle, nearly four human days, since Optimus and Sam had relayed the Primes' words. At first both Jazz and Prowl insisted on being near the sparkling as he changed. When Ratchet finally put his foot down that they needed to rest so that they could be there for the sparkling when he woke, Prowl attempted to convince Ratchet that he could curl up around the transforming sparkling as he once did with Bluestreak when he was a scared little youngling who had just lost his entire world. Ratchet, however, quickly nipped that idea in the head, as he had no idea how much the sparkling would grow, and having Prowl curled around him could do potential harm. After finally kicking everyone else out, Ratchet enjoyed the brief quiet. Every once in a while, he would check on the sparkling's progress. After 72 hours, the transformation process seemed to be complete and he had contacted the waiting creators as well as Optimus, as he was their leader, to let them know the results.

Now, Ratchet busied himself straightening up his med bay. He briefly checked the IV attached to his mate Ironhide. Ironhide also looked at the IV that was siphoning a small portion of his own energon(1) stores. They had contracts with some big oil companies, and most recently Optimus had brokered a deal with Mr. White's oil refinery. They could even process the oil into energon. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good. Ratchet had already been worrying over his supply of medical grade energon. Knowing his mate's worry, Ironhide had readily agreed to a donation. Energon that had already been processed through a bot, while not the best, was better than any energon they could get out of any earth material.

"Take it easy, Ratchet," Ironhide said. "You're the best medic in the fleet. You've never contaminated a batch of donated energon before and you won't know."

"Hmph," Ratchet replied, "it's not the energon I'm worried about."

"I know."

Ratchet paused and stared at his mate, probing their bond to see what Ironhide thought he knew.

Ironhide sighed. "I ain't blind, Ratchet. You've been doing busy work since you asked me down here. You've been checking on the sparkling every half a breem. And if you ain't checking on him, you're glancing at that data pad over there."

Ratchet glanced over at the data pad he had placed on the counter that he had to go over with Prowl and Jazz. Ratchet sighed and leaned his forehead against his mate. "It's not something you can help with, Ironhide."

"I know that," Ironhide said. "You've got the whole patient confidentiality thing. I knew what I was getting into when I asked you to be my mate."

Ratchet couldn't help but smirk in memory. "As I recall, you burst through the doors to my med bay and demanded that I answer whether I agreed with you or not. There was no mention about your realization that we could be being sparkmates."

Ironhide shrugged. "And you threw your wrench at me. I had that dent for vorns. Of course those little troublemakers of yours might have had something to do with that."

Ratchet snorted. "Not like you didn't deserve it, bursting in to my med bay like some crazed bot. And what do you mean 'my' troublemakers?"

"Well you are the one that adopted those younglings first."

"Ha," Ratchet said. "I'm just glad I had already put down Red Alert for the night. Do you have any idea what your entrance could have done to his glitch?"

Ironhide grimaced. "I admit it wasn't one of my best moments."

Ratchet chuckled. At the swish of the inner door, he straightened and turned to see Prowl, Jazz, and Optimus entering the room. He blinked as he realized that Optimus was carrying Sam. He looked at Optimus questioningly.

"He wanted to know how the youngling was doing," Optimus explained.

Both Prowl and Jazz ignored the exchange and hurried over to the sparkling to look him over. He was silver, like Jazz, except that he had a black stripe down his center, possibly from Prowl. Jazz almost missed the dark blue stripe that was in the center of the black stripe and he wondered where it came from. He also sported miniature ear fins that looked a lot like Jazz's. While the sparkling had gotten most of his coloring from Jazz, it was obvious he had gotten his frame from Prowl. The sparkling bore a striking resemblance to Prowl, only he was smaller. Jazz thought he was the cutest little mech in existence. Prowl frowned at the blue stripe, but decided it didn't matter. He couldn't help but smile as he watched the sparkling's doorwings flutter in his recharge. The doorwings had developed to the point of mid-aged sparkling, what humans would consider a toddler. They were at the stage that they would begin processing sensory data. As he aged, the sparkling's wings would begin to process more and more information.

"He's doing fine," Ratchet said.

Jazz's frame relaxed in relief. He glanced over at Ironhide. "Ah didn't know you were hurt, Hide."

"I'm not." Ironhide smiled, raising his arm to show the tubing that was currently siphoning out some of his energon store. "I'm just doing my yearly donation."

Optimus turned to Ratchet in concern. "Donation? Ratchet is there a problem?"

Ratchet sighed. "Not yet. However, with a sparkling to feed, I will become dangerously low on my med grade energon."

"I thought sparklings and younglings required fine grade energon, not med grade," Prowl interjected.

Ratchet looked at Prowl as he explained, "Young bots can only take fine grade or finer. And that swill we get from the processed oil won't cut it."

"Ratchet!" Optimus reprimanded his medic.

"I have to agree with him, Optimus. That stuff we get from the oil tastes like slag," Ironhide defended his sparkmate.

"Even so, there's no reason to disparage the oil we receive from our allies. The energon we get from the processed oil is better than nothing," Optimus said.

Ignoring Optimus, Prowl turned to Ratchet in concern. "You do not have enough energon to feed the sparkling?"

Ratchet shook his head. "At the moment, we're fine. At least for a few earth years. But I'll be using up my med grade energon pretty quick. I was going to talk to you, Optimus, about asking for donations from the other bots for my med grade."

Jazz stuck his arm in front of Ratchet's face. "Hook me up, Docbot."

"Would you get that thing out of my face," Ratchet grumbled as he knocked Jazz's arm down. "You're not eligible to donate. Not with your torso finally healed, you're not. I spent too much time making sure your energon stayed where it was supposed to be to take it out of you now."

Ratchet moved over to pick up the lone data pad that he had been so concerned about.

"What about me? May I donate?" Prowl asked.

"Hmm . . ." Ratchet hummed distracted by what was on the data pad, "Oh, yeah, you can donate. I can start the procedure when Ironhide is done."

* * *

Awareness came slowly to the sparkling. He wondered what had happened. When he tried to think back, all he could remember was pain. He quickly decided to drop that line of thought. He couldn't seem to remember where he was. Or who he was for that matter. Was he in danger? Or were his daddies around? He knew he had daddies. He had heard them before when everything hurt. They would keep him safe.

Experimentally, he flexed his hands and released them. Something on his back twitched. He frowned, wondering what was on his back that could twitch as he moved. What was it? Or was there more than one? Maybe he should think of a way to check. As he was thinking of how to figure out what was on his back, his mind froze when he felt the . . . the things flutter. Now he really wanted to know what they were. He clenched and unclenched his hands again. Ooh, that might work. Reaching back, he stretched his fingers behind his back to see if he could touch whatever it was. But no matter how hard he tried or how much he stretched, his fingers could never quite reach the things on his back. It always seemed to dance just out of reach, taunting him. Finally, after letting out a quiet puff of air, he decided to try a different approach. But what? Hmm . . . opening his eyes might work. Slowly he blinked as his optics came on. When he could finally focus, he froze.

In front of him were a number of big monsters. Where were his daddies? They would protect him from the monsters, right? Two of the monsters turned to stare at him and he couldn't help trembling. One of them stepped forward and he gave small clicking noises in distress. The giant chirped softly at him and he began to feel warmth surround him. Tilting his head, he realized that this giant was one of his daddies. Still clicking, he held up his arms, wanting to be held. Swiftly, the giant, who he now realized had some pretty cool wings on his back, picked him up and cuddled him against a warm chest. Snuggling into the warmth, he eyed another nearby monster warily. At least until he realized that the close monster who was gazing at him with a blue-lit visor was also sending him happy feelings. Ah, another daddy! Yay!

Slowly the clicking died down as he realized he was safe. The monsters who weren't monsters were making funny noises. A language? Deciding he was too tired to care, he snuggled in. The things on his back, he now realized were wings like his daddy's, fluttered briefly as daddy cradled him against his chest and a deep heat source that seemed to be just behind it comforted him into a restful sleep.

* * *

"How is the guy . . . uh . . . sparkling, Ratchet?" Sam finally asked as he watched Prowl cuddle the sparkling as Jazz hovered anxiously next to him.

Startled, Ratchet turned to stare at Sam. "As I said, he is perfectly healthy."

"And he's ours, right man? Algorithm-wise(2), Ah mean," Jazz said, his gaze not once leaving the sleeping sparkling.

Ratchet looked down at the data pad with worry before he answered, "Yes, his coding point to both you and Prowl as the sparkling's creators."

Optimus smiled. "That's good to hear. It has been a long time since we've had a sparkling running around. What are you going to name him?"

Everyone that was awake turned to stare at Optimus. Sam couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't he already have a name?"

"Human names don't exactly translate," Ratchet began.

"Slag, Cybertronian names don't translate to English that well either," Ironhide interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

Ratchet glared at his mate. "Cybertronian names tend to be descriptions of the bot rather than a one word name. When we came to Earth we took the closest word to our names we could."

Sam blinked.

"Yeah man," Jazz said, tearing his gaze from the sparkling to look down at Sam, "my Cybertronian name translates as 'one who dances through life' and Prowler's is 'one who efficiently stalks his prey'."

Prowl glanced briefly at his mate before going back to staring in wonder at the sparkling comfortably sleeping in his arms.

"What about you, Ratchet? What does your name mean?" Sam asked.

Ratchet blinked. "Uhh . . ."

Ironhide chuckled. "His is 'one who takes no sass'."

Sam looked at Ironhide curiously. "Really? I would have thought it would have something to do with healing."

"Thank you, Samuel, for that thought," Ratchet told him, "but it's actually First Aid whose name means 'one who heals all'. He might be young, but he's got all the markings of a great medic."

"Oh," Sam said. "So what are you going to name the . . . sparkling, then?"

Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet each began calling out prospective names. Each of which Jazz shot down for one reason or another. Even Sam tentatively offered a few names, but soon stopped when Jazz would politely tell him no. Jazz paused in listening to the other bots give names that didn't feel right when he noticed how dejected Sam looked at being turned down.

He crouched down, used his digit to lift Sam's face up, and looked the human in the eye. "Ah don't mean to sound harsh, Sam. But, yer not hearing the whole names they're giving me."

Sam looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Jazz smiled. "Yer only hearing the English translation of the name. They're also sending me the actual Cybertronian name over the comm. See, naming a bot is important. Creator bots . . . er . . .Parent bots use their bond ta the sparklin' ta give 'em a name that best fits 'em. Sometimes they honor a past bot by using their name. Though, tha's rare. Still, the sparklin' fits the name. Yer giving me some great 'human' names, but as ol' Ratch mentioned earlier, they don't translate very well to Cybertronian."

"Oh," Sam said. "I'm sorry I couldn't help."

"Don't sweat it man," Jazz told him before standing straight. "I 'preciate yah trying ta help find a good name."

After Jazz finished his explanation, which made Sam feel better at not being able to come up with a name, Sam watched as Jazz rejected name after name from the other bots. Sometimes he gave the most frivolous reason for not using the name, but Sam understood now that Jazz was looking for a name that felt right. So, the reasons he gave were just excuses and the other bots seemed to realize this.

"Dredge," Ratchet suggested.

Jazz frowned at him. "Tha's too depressing, man. Don't want mechs thinking he's a downer."

Optimus smiled thinking he had thought of the perfect name. "Zippy."

Jazz stared at his leader. "That ain't very creative, Boss bot. You want mah sparklin' to be always racing around like Blurr? No thanks."

"Stinger," Ironhide offered.

Jazz scoffed, "I ain't gonna push 'im toward fighting."

Prowl listened quietly as the gathered bots threw out name after name for him and Jazz to call their little gift. And he was a gift. After the one time that Jazz had sparked and then lost the sparkling before birth, they had thought they would never have the chance again. He looked down at the little winged mech he cradled who was contentedly recharging against his spark.

"Soundblaster."

Everyone froze and turned to Prowl.

Jazz's visor blinked in surprise. "What was that ya said, Prowler?"

Prowl raised his head to stare at his visored mate. "His name is Soundblaster."

The entire group, bot and human alike, stared at Prowl in silence at his firm tone.

Finally, Ironhide growled out, "Why would you want to name your sparkling after some pit spawned Decepticon?"

Prowl calmly looked at Ironhide and simply stated one word, "Logos."

Jazz couldn't help it as his visor shuttered off and on repeatedly.

"Who's Soundblaster? And what's logos?" Sam asked as all the bots could seem to do was to keep staring at Prowl.

"Not what. Who," Jazz said softly.

Sam huffed, "Fine, who are they?"

"Soundblaster," Ratchet began, "was a Decepticon back when our race was young, when the Ancients still walked among us."

"Ancie-" Sam started to ask.

"The original Primes, boy," Ironhide interrupted. "Them and any bot born that same period are known as the Ancients. Ain't any of them been alive since vorns before I was sparked."

Sam frowned. "You mean like Jetfire?"

"No, Samuel," Optimus said. "Even older than Jetfire. Although, I believe he may have been born when they still walked. I believe he is possibly a generation or two younger than the Ancients."

Sam's eyes widened.

"Ya hafta understand, Sam," Jazz explained, "these are part of our legends. Our myths. The Ancients . . . They were the first born of Primus. And each had special abilities. Some bots say that the Original Primes were actually the first children of the Ancients and some bots say that they were the Ancients. No one's sure."

Sam nodded his understanding, but then looked at Jazz in confusion. "But what does that have to do with this Decepticon?"

"Well, ya see, this con, Soundblaster . . . Like Ah said he was recorded to be alive at the same time as the Ancients . . . And well there are no records of his birth or his death, that's not surprising though. There's a lotta data that was lost from that time . . . But there's legends about his name being associated with one of the Ancients, one of tha Primes, Logos Prime. It's said that they were the same bot."

"But I thought the Primes were Autobots!"

"Not always, Samuel," Optimus said gently. "The Fallen was once a Prime."

"And at that time, Sam," Jazz said, "There wasn't as big a division between us bots and the cons. Pits, they were our military forces! They protected us from outside dangers!"

"What?"

"It's not something a lot of Autobots like to think about," Ratchet explained. "Many Decepticons were once thought of as heroes. They were our friends. After all these vorns, not many want to remember those happier times before the war."

"Oh."

"Logos Prime was thought to have power over space and time. Legends say that he was able to pierce between worlds and walk in other universes."

"So because this Logos Prime could go between universes and your new kid . . . sparkling . . . crossed from another universe, you want to name him after this Prime? Why not just call him Logos?" Sam asked.

Every bot froze in horror at the suggestion. Ratchet was the first to move jerkily, his voice box stuttering as he tried to form a coherent word.

"No bot would give a sparkling the name from one of the Original Primes, Samuel," Optimus said. "It's just not done . . . they were like the demigods in the religion of your Ancient Greece."

Jazz turned to stare at his mate in confusion. He was getting the feeling that Sam's guess, while partially correct, didn't cover the entire reason Prowl wished the sparkling to be named Soundblaster. "Prowler? Why else did ya choose tha name?"

Prowl looked down at the sleeping sparkling and gave a soft pet to his head, making the sparkling purr in happiness. Then he looked up to his mate and gave him a small contented smile. "Because the first time I ever felt him, when my team was out in space, it was as if I heard a blast of joyful music. A whole caphony of bells ringing out the news of his birth."

Ironhide thought about the name before he smiled fondly. "Kinda reminds me of ol' Blaster."

"Who?" Sam asked.

"Blaster was a good friend. Always had a smile for any strange bot. His team was sent to investigate some unusual readings on our second moon right before the war really started heating up," Ironhide explained.

Ratchet continued, "There was an accident. It was assumed that some sort of explosion occurred. There was no trace of the bigger bots and only pieces of most of his cassettes. Only one of his cassettes survived. And he didn't last more than a few vorns before succumbing to the broken bonds he had suffered."

"What's a cassette?" Sam asked in curiosity.

"There are some bots that can create sparklings without a sparkmate or the Allspark. They are very rare and those sparklings take longer to mature. There's only one bot alive that has that ability and he's loyal to Megatron."

At Sam's questioning look, Optimus said, "Soundwave. I believe you've met some of his younglings, Frenzy and Ravage."

"Frenzy! That thing was a kid?" Sam screeched.

Ratchet frowned. "Yes. Physically, he was vorns older than Bumblebee. Mentally, however he would have been about thirteen or fourteen, four years younger than Bumblebee's mental age."

"He tried to kill me!" Sam defended himself.

"And he's been living with Decepticons since he was very young," Ratchet reprimanded. "All he has known is war."

Prowl interrupted the argument, bringing it back to the main point of the conversation. "I think the name Soundblaster can also be in tribute to the fallen Blaster."

Prowl stared at his mate. [[I know he was a good friend of yours.]]

Jazz stared tenderly at Prowl. [[Aww, Prowler.]]

Jazz smiled and looked down at the latest addition to his family. "Ya know, I think Soundblaster will fit him just fine."

After a few minutes, where Ratchet busied himself by removing the tubing from Ironhide's arm and the others just stared at the sleeping sparkling, Ratchet turned to his filled med bay. "Alright, everyone out."

Prowl opened his mouth to protest.

"Not you two," Ratchet indicated both Prowl and Jazz. "Everyone else, out!"

"What is this about?" Optimus asked.

"It's confidential," Ratchet told him as he watched Ironhide offer his hand to Sam and then quietly slip out the door.

"If it concerns my men. . ." Optimus began.

"It does not affect the running of the base," Ratchet told him. "As such, it is no concern of yours what I have to discuss unless the parental bots deem it should concern you. Now, Out!"

Ratchet waved a wrench threateningly in Optimus's direction. Just where had he gotten that? Optimus quickly left, not wanting to be hit with said wrench.

Ratchet turned back to the data pad and began fiddling with it.

"Ratch?" Jazz asked. "Is their something wrong with the sparkling?"

Ratchet's head jerked up in surprise. "What? No. Like I said, he's fine . . . He's just got some coding I thought you two should see."

Ratchet handed over the pad and Jazz shared it with Prowl so they could look over it together. Familiar with both his and his mate's coding, he easily recognized that he was staring at a mix of both of them. Although, there was something off about it.

Prowl noticed immediately what Ratchet had been concerned about. He pointed at a specific part. "This coding. It is Decepticon coding."

"Yes," Ratchet said. "It's not much. But it worries me where it came from."

Prowl frowned, "Could it not have come from me? One of my creator's was Decepticon."

"Yeah," Jazz said, "Even though he chose the Autobot side, Prowl does have Decepticon coding."

Ratchet looked down at the pad, not convinced. "I suppose it could have come from you. I'm not sure what it will do to the sparkling. We'll just have to wait and see."

Tbc

Terms 

1) Energon – the fuel that Cybertronians drink to remain functioning. It is also the blood in their veins. Raw energon must be processed before it can be consumed.  
2) Algorithms – Like the DNA of organic life, Cybertronians have something called Cyber/Nano Algorithms (CNA). The CNA contains a bot's hard code. By looking at a bot's code, an expert can determine whether the bot had either Decepticons or Autobots in their ancestry.

End Note: Cyber/Nano Algorithms is not something I came up with. I actually found the idea while looking at a transformers wiki. For anyone interested, here's the link, just delete the spaces (http:/ tfwiki. net /wiki /CNA).

End note 2: Virtual cookies for anyone who caught the Transformer reference in this chapter. Hint, it is not from the G1 verse. It is also not the name SoundBlaster as that comes from the G1/G2 continuity.


	7. Part 7

**Part 7**

Disclaimer: See part 1

Beta: Lady FoxFire and DaemonicKitten

Warning: Slash

Pairings ([adopted] children): Because some of the families keep getting bigger, I have created a couple family trees. If you are interested, follow the links. However, some of the trees have spoilers. Prowl's family ( jadeaislin. deviantart #/d3rfvm4); Ratchet's family ( jadeaislin. deviantart #/d3rfvdv); (Bumblebee, [Sam])

Author's Note: To the reviewer who suggested SoundBlaster could use a piece of the SunHarvester as a chew toy . . . .well, it's not the SunHarvester, but hopefully the scene is just as good. . .

Note 1: ##### is a scene break where little time has passed.

Note 2: [[bond speak]]

Time Terms

Klik – 1.2 minutes

Mega-cycle – 93 hours

Orn – 13 days

Deca-cycle – 3 weeks

Vorn - 83 years

Part 7

SoundBlaster, or SB as Jazz Daddy liked to call him, toddled over to the bot-sized couch. This walking was tricky business. He felt like he should already know how to walk, but his doorwings kept giving him trouble. Whenever he thought he was balanced, he would lift one foot, or pede as Prowl Daddy called it, and he would feel himself teetering backwards. If he was lucky enough to catch himself before falling, he would lean forward, only to find himself face first on the floor moments later. At least when that happened, he didn't land on his wings. It really hurt when he fell on those.

SoundBlaster had heard Prowl Daddy say that he might not be ready to walk. Jazz Daddy hadn't said anything though. SoundBlaster, however, refused to crawl. All the big bots walked . . . and changed into cars. But Jazz Daddy said he was too young to change forms and Prowl Daddy had agreed. Jazz Daddy had never said he was too young to walk though and he had been determined to learn.

He didn't mind all the dents and scrapes he got in his attempts. Jazz Daddy always picked him up and checked to see that he wasn't hurt that bad. He always gave the best hugs when he got hurt. They were always so warm. SoundBlaster thought, learning to walk would be easier without the wings, but he didn't want to get rid of them. They told him so many fun things, like when Jazz Daddy was sneaking behind him for a tickle pounce. Even if he still got tickled, SoundBlaster would have fun trying to squirm away. Besides, Prowl Daddy always rubbed between his wings in that special spot only Prowl Daddy knew about whenever he was upset. It always made him feel lots better. So he wasn't getting rid of his wings. No way!

Instead he kept struggling to walk. It wasn't until the Other Daddy suggested that he watch the winged daddy, Prowl Daddy, walking and try to copy him that SoundBlaster finally made any sort of progress in his walking attempts. He had kept a sharp eye on Prowl Daddy for days as he walked around their quarters. Then he would try to walk in exactly the same way. When Prowl Daddy realized what he was doing, he began walking really slow around their quarters. Jazz Daddy laughed every time SoundBlaster followed his Prowl Daddy around. Prowl Daddy pretended to be upset, but SoundBlaster could tell Prowl Daddy thought it was funny too. This made SoundBlaster laugh as well because everyone was happy.

Now, he may not be steady on his pedes, but he could walk. Daddy Jazz had finally taken him out of their quarters. Those small rooms and the med bay had been all SoundBlaster had seen of the base. Now they were in the Rec. room where Jazz Daddy had gone to get some energon after directing SoundBlaster toward the couch. As he reached the couch, SoundBlaster realized there was already some bots sitting there and he hesitated to continue.

The two bots looked alike in all but color. The dark red one was grinning at the other one. SoundBlaster could hear him teasing the golden bot. He glanced at the red bot's mouth but it was closed. The bright gold colored one was frowning, his fingers brushing at a spot on his arm. He gave the red bot a glare every so often.

[[It's not that bad Sunny.]]

[[Don't call me that!]] 'Sunny' growled half-heartedly. He didn't mind his twin calling by that nickname. He was family, after all. Their baby brother, Red Alert, almost never used nicknames. Ratchet usually only used them in privacy. Even Ironhide wasn't as bad with the nicknames as his twin, but they were family and he would accept teasing from them. Anyone other than family would quickly learn not to call him anything but his name. Even Bluestreak, who was one of the few bots Sunstreaker found tolerable, did not have the privilege of calling him by a nickname.

At the moment his twin was teasing him over a scratch in his paint. He hated scratches and Ratchet had refused to paint over it as he had gotten the scratch during one of the twins' hair-brained schemes, and his self-healing would take care of the scratch within a couple orns. He looked at his brother when his voice over their bond suddenly stopped. In many ways, twin bonds were like sparkmate bonds. Like sparkmate bonds, twin bonds allowed the two bots to communicate over the bond.

Sunstreaker looked at his brother, who was staring at something to the left of him in wonder. Turning he saw a little silver sparkling who had a streak of black and blue running down his front. Sunny couldn't help but think the colored stripe gave the sparkling a little class. Although, he did wonder how the sparkling had gotten the blue stripe.

Neither Prowl nor Jazz had a stripe in their paint job and the sparkling was too young to change his primary color. All sparklings were born with their parents features. It was only Allspark born (1) sparks that could have new features in their body. Ratchet had explained once how sparkborns (2) sparks spent too much time close to their creator's spark to develop different features, but he hadn't really paid attention to the details. Besides, it had never really been explained how Jazz and Prowl had gotten the sparkling.

The sparkling stared up at him. His wings fluttered as he gave the frontliner a big smile. Sunstreaker stared at the sparkling, not knowing what to do. His twin, Sideswipe, was no help. He just sat there, staring at the sparkling. The news had quickly spread to all the bots on the base about how Prowl and Jazz had gotten a new sparkling. However, he had not been allowed to meet other bots yet. Sunstreaker had never been good with sparklings. The only sparkling he had ever known when he had become a mature mech was Bumblebee. And he had never spent much time with him. Even as a sparkling, he had never spent much time with other sparklings. He hadn't even noticed Bluestreak until he was no longer a youngling. Sunstreaker looked around for help; gratefully he saw Jazz was at the energon dispenser. He'd be coming over soon. Feeling a tug at his knee plates, Sunstreaker looked down to find the sparkling had gotten closer to him.

The sparkling stared up at him with bright blue eyes and a big smile, his doorwings fluttered as he said, "You'se nice an' pwetty."

Sunstreaker blinked and looked down at his scratched arm.

The sparkling also looked at the scratch. He frowned and his wings drooped before they rose determinedly. "Jazz Daddy fix."

"What?!"

"Jazz Daddy fix boo boos," the sparkling told him, once more smiling again. When Jazz approached the group with two energon cubes in servos, SoundBlaster turned to him and demanded, "Jazz Daddy fix nice bot."

Jazz wandered over with his own cube of energon in one servo and SoundBlaster's special energon mix in the other. He looked down at his sparkling questioningly.

SoundBlaster turned to his daddy and demanded, "Jazz Daddy, fix boo boos."

Jazz looked down at his sparkling and then at the disgruntled Sunstreaker. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Don't worry SB; Sunstreaker has his own daddy to fix his boo boos."

SoundBlaster frowned. "You'se sure?"

"Yep. I bet Sunstreaker has already seen his daddy."

Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker looked at Jazz in confusion until the mech commed them that 'daddy' was the human word for creator. Sunstreaker considered it for a moment. Well, he had seen Ratchet. He supposed Ratchet could have been like a 'daddy' to him and his brothers. Sunstreaker looked down at the sparkling. "I did see my . . . 'daddy' and he made it feel better. It doesn't hurt."

SoundBlaster stared at the golden bot. "Not hurt?"

"No, it doesn't," Sunstreaker confirmed, not wanting to know what the sparkling would demand Jazz do if it still stung.

Plopping down next to Sunstreaker, Jazz grinned. Shaking the sippy-like cup that held a specially mixed formula of energon Ratchet made specifically for the sparkling, Jazz said, "Now tha that's taken care of, how 'bout we enjoy our afternoon energon, SB?"

SoundBlaster, eager for his energon, scrambled onto the nearest available lap. Sunstreaker froze as he found his lap full of a wriggling sparkling. Slowly his arms came up around the sparkling to gently keep him steady. SoundBlaster, who had already begun to drink from the sippy cup his Daddy Jazz had given him, looked up at Sunstreaker and gave him a small smile, the lip of the cup tucked into the corner of his mouth.

Sunstreaker couldn't understand why the sparkling trusted him so much. Any other bot would tell the little one to be wary of him. That he was mean and didn't care about anyone but himself. It was partially true. Sunstreaker tended to push others away, but it wasn't because he didn't care. He just didn't want to get hurt. After their creators died, he spent most of his youngling years protecting his younger brother, Red Alert, from those bots that would act friendly only to run away when they learned of his glitch. Worse still, were those bots that would make fun of and degrade his youngest brother for something he had no control over. To his mind, it was better if others did stay away if they couldn't look past a minor difficulty.

SoundBlaster paused in drinking his trans-metal enriched energon. Frowning, he held the cup in his lap and tilted his head.

"Something wrong, SB," Jazz asked in concern. SoundBlaster usually didn't stop drinking his energon until it was all gone.

Silently SoundBlaster offered the cup to his creator. Jazz took it, examining the remaining contents to see if there was something abnormal about them. It had the same dark pink color of SoundBlaster's usual energon. Jazz swished the contents of the cup around and dark purple streaks of trans metal became more obvious in the mixture as the energon became a lighter pink. Satisfied there was nothing wrong with the energon, he let the trans metal settle and blend into the energon making a darker color once more.

Once the cup was gone from his grasp, SoundBlaster twisted around to face the bright colored bot he was sitting on. He stretched his arms as wide as they would go as he attempted to give the bigger bot a hug. With determination, he looked straight in Sunstreaker's optics. "You'se not mean. Youse nice an' lovey youse brudders!"

Sunstreaker blinked in surprise. It was startling for one so young to be able to see the care he had for his brother. Sunstreaker looked down at the firm look the sparkling was giving him, and the only thing he could find himself doing was nodding in agreement. SoundBlaster, satisfied that Sunstreaker had gotten his message, turned back around and reached for his unfinished cup which his Jazz Daddy quickly handed over. He didn't know it, but in that moment, SoundBlaster had won the support of the two twins.

Sideswipe was grateful that the sparkling could see that Sunstreaker wasn't what he tried to present himself as even if the sparkling had only had limited contact with him. However, the sparkling's words caused another concern in Sideswipe's processor. A sparkling's first sounds were clicks and trills. Once a sparkling was able to make language sounds, they already had all the sounds necessary and could make full sentences. They weren't like the human sparkling that Sideswipe had once observed that had to learn how to say sentences and how to pronounce certain sounds.

"Jazz," Sideswipe asked hesitantly, "his voice processor?"

Jazz frowned as he looked at his sparkling. "Ratchet says he's got a soft glitch (3). . ."

Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe frowned and looked down at the sparkling.

"He has some trouble pronouncing certain sounds," Jazz continued. "Ratch' isn't sure how deep the glitch is yet, but it doesn't look like there will be any problem working around the glitch."

SoundBlaster looked up in curiosity. Jazz smiled and gently stroked his sparkling's head, sending affection through their bond. SoundBlaster smiled happily and returned to his drink.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe watched the interaction and vowed that the little sparkling would know only happy thoughts.

* * *

A few orns after SoundBlaster had met the twins, Jazz found himself needing a sparkling sitter for a few hours. Prowl was away with Prime on an important diplomatic mission, and Jazz had his own duties that he need to attend to, and he couldn't do some of them while he was watching SoundBlaster. Sideswipe had offered to watch the sparkling and Jazz had gratefully handed him over.

Sideswipe had taken the sparkling to the room he shared with his twin, thinking it would be easier to watch him in an enclosed space. At first he was right. He was easily able to find things to amuse the sparkling. Jazz had delivered the sparkling with a set of plush cubes and a toy police car that looked just like his daddy's vehicle form; it even had a siren sound and flashing lights. It looked like one of those human RC cars, except that the only added features to it were it's siren and lights. Even after Sideswipe had turned off the sirens on the toy car, SoundBlaster had been content to play with his toys with little input from the bigger bot. However, that changed when his brother returned from his patrol duty.

Sunstreaker smiled faintly down at the sparkling before turning to his brother. "Did it work?"

Sideswipe smirked and leaned back. "Of course it did. Do you take me for an amateur?"

Sunstreaker returned his brothers smirk. "Of course not. How long do you think it will be until he notices?"

Sideswipe grins. "Oh I'd say any klik now. But I'm sure we can find the perfect wrapping paper before he comes charging at us."

Sunstreaker gave his own grin as the two discussed 'wrapping' options and how to present it. After a while, Sunstreaker asked, "Where did you hide it?"

Sideswipe gestured, "Under your berth."

"It's not here," Sunstreaker said as he looked under his berth and noticed that his paints had been moved to the side. Then he noticed something else. "Uh . . . Sideswipe."

"Mhmm?"

"Where's the sparkling?" Sunstreaker asked calmly.

Sideswipe's head jerked up in surprise. He looked around the room frantically for the little bot. The sparkling's toys lay abandoned in the corner, and he turned to look at his brother whose optics were focused on one wall. Or more specifically, one spot in the particular wall. Turning, he too realized what his brother had. The door to their quarters had been left open when Sunstreaker had entered and SoundBlaster had wandered off while they had been discussing the finishing touches of their latest prank.

#####

Deep in the autobot section of the base, Red Alert sat in his security room monitoring all the cameras he had installed. He glanced at one that showed the twins going down two different hallways, looking in each room they passed. He wondered what they had done this time, and how long Prowl would punish them for their latest prank.

A flash of yellow green in one of the other cameras caused him to turn around, but a loud clang on his door caused him to freeze. His glitch caused him to immediately think a Decepticon had managed to infiltrate to the lower levels of the base and was trying to get in. He quickly managed to calm his glitch and he started to turn toward his monitors. That glimpse he had caught had looked like Ratchet, but it wasn't an area Ratchet would normally be found in. Another clang nearly had him jumping from his seat. When the clanging continued, he decided to see who or what was at his door as he hadn't seen any bot approaching his domain in nearby cameras.

With his hand transformed into a pulse gun, he moved to the side of the door and swiftly opened it. No one was there. Red Alert stared at the blank wall across from the security room in confusion. A soft clang at his feet made him look down.

He blinked.

The creature at his feet blinked back and smiled up at the surprised bot. Neither made a noise until the small creature let the object he had been chewing on hit the floor with a soft clang.

Red Alert smiled and gently reached down to pick up the little sparkling. He realized now that his brothers were probably looking for the sparkling, and he wondered how the little bot had gotten down there. It wasn't until he had placed SoundBlaster in a nearby chair that he realized what the sparkling was chewing on. He smirked as the sparkling smiled up at him. His brothers were going to be in so much trouble.

#####

Red Alert watched in amusement as his brothers continued their search. A search that was complicated by them having to avoid an enraged Ratchet.

Eventually, he noted that Ratchet was making his way to the security office, having given up on his search for the twins. Red Alert smiled down at the sparkling. "Looks like we're about to have some company."

SoundBlaster looked at him curiously before going back to playing with his new toy.

Before Ratchet could think about banging on his door, Red Alert let the door swish open as the irate medic barged in.

"Where are those good for nothing brothers of yours?" Ratchet demanded. "I know you know exactly where they are. Do you know what they did this time?"

Red Alert looked down at the quiet sparkling. "Took your favorite wrench."

Ratchet paused in his ranting and looked at his youngest sparkling. "Yesss," he hissed. "Did you see where they put it?"

Red Alert smirked before his gaze drifted down. "Not exactly."

Ratchet followed his gaze down and blinked in shock. He blinked again, but the image remained the same. He couldn't decide if he should coo at the cute image or demand his wrench back.

SoundBlaster looked up at the now amused bot. Innocently, he shifted the wrench in his mouth so he could suck on a new area. Around the piece of wrench in his mouth, he offered the medic a sweet little smile.

Tbc.

1) Allspark born: A cybertronian born from the Allspark. This is the more common type of birth. These sparklings sometimes have features that differ from their creators.

2) Spark born: A Cybertronian born through a carrier. It is rare, can only occur with sparkmates, and the sparkling only gains code and features from its two or more creators.

3) Soft Glitch: A soft glitch is like a human learning disability that can be overcome through time.


	8. Part 8

Disclaimer: See part 1  
Beta: Tenshi of Light21  
Warning: Slash  
Pairings ([adopted] children): Because some of the families keep getting bigger, I have created a couple family trees. If you are interested, follow the links. However, some of the trees have spoilers. Prowl's family ( jadeaislin. deviantart #/d3rfvm4); Ratchet's family ( jadeaislin. deviantart #/d3rfvdv); (Bumblebee, [Sam])

AN: I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. I have up to chapter thirteen done and will try to post chapters faster. However, I am currently without a beta and am having trouble finishing the fourteenth chapter. So, I can't make any promises after chapter thirteen.

Note 1: ***** is a scene break where little time has passed.  
Note 2: _/thoughts/_

Time Terms  
Mega-cycle – 93 hours  
Deca-cycle – 3 weeks  
Vorn - 83 years

Part 8

Mikeala stood at the ATM wearily. It had been a long few weeks. One little complication after another kept happening and she was tired.

It had started innocently enough when she had been listening to her iPod. She had been startled to hear 'Hit me Baby One More Time' blast out of her little mp3 player. When she had looked at her play list, she discovered that it had twenty new songs from artists like Brittney Spears or Jonas Brothers. Artists she did not like and would never have searched for, let alone bought songs from. She had contacted the online store she bought music from about the songs and found that there had been some sort of mix up. Some customers were getting charged for songs they never ordered. The store took the songs off her account and deposited the money back into her bank account. She had thought that would be it; too bad it wasn't.

A couple days later she got her cellphone bill. She couldn't believe it when she saw the charge for texting and a 30 minute phone call to somewhere in China. She rarely texted anyone and when she did, her message was short and to the point. And she didn't know anyone in China. Thankfully, the phone company had helped her fix the problems.

Then there was the concert ticket. She had been able to win concert tickets from an online radio contest. But when she had gone to collect the tickets, she had been told that they had received her acceptance refusal via email so the tickets had gone to the second highest winner. She checked her email, but her previous weeks messages had been erased recently and she could not tell if her email had sent the message. Although, she was fairly certain that she hadn't.

Finally, she had problems with her bank. For some reason, her debit card had stopped working when she tried to use it to buy a quick drink. She had been lucky she had cash on her. Going to the bank, she found that her charge card had been overcharged with purchases she had never ordered. On top of that, paperwork had been filed stating that she was transferring what little funds remained to a new account. Working with the bank, she had gotten everything straightened out and now had a new credit and debit card.

Now she was standing outside the bank, hoping that the problems were all over and she could get her money in peace. There didn't seem to be a problem when she pushed her card into the slot. Inputting her pin number went smoothly as well. She selected the amount she wanted to withdraw and waited patiently for the machine to process her request.

Suddenly alarms started blaring and she jerked back from the machine as it started spewing one bill after another out. The bills pelted her and fell to the ground like green leaves. Security guards rushed out and stared at the near crying young lady.

Turning she looked wide eyed at the nearby security guard. Helplessly she said, "I only wanted a twenty."

* * *

One thing Seymour Simmons was sure of, someone or something was out to get him. It had started simple. His email had filled up with spam from dozens of different sites. Some were daily recipes from a cooking site he had never been to. Others were coupons for local stores on the other side of the country.

Then there were the emails from dating sites. He began to get emails from people claiming that they had found his email on these dating sites. Sites that he had never even heard of, let alone registered with. More disturbing were the responses from gay singles. He had no problems with gays, although he preferred not to think about them. His family was straight laced and would rather pretend that they didn't exist.

It had been while he had been trying to clear things up with the dating sites that his mother had received his mail. He had told her he was expecting an important piece of mail as he expected to hear from the dating sites that his name had been cleared from their lists. Instead, his mother had taken one look at the mail and then began to hit him with it as she screamed about him doing unholy things in her house. It took hours to calm her down. Finally, when he was able to look at the mail, he discovered to his horror, he had been subscribed to a popular homosexual magazine.

On top of all the mail and email problems he was having, he also had to contend with bank errors. One day he would find all his funds transferred to a new account, the next they would not only be in a new account, but it would be one that didn't allow withdrawals. It took weeks for him to fix all the problems he had with the bank. It eventually got to the point that he was threatening to go to another bank before the bank would help him with his problems.

Then there was the airport incident. He had been flying south to visit some family, when he had been told that he was not allowed to fly. His name had been placed on the no fly list. Him! Seymour Simmons! On the no fly list like he was some sort of terrorist! He couldn't believe that they would treat an honest to goodness red blooded American as if he were some sort of terrorist. He raised such a stink that the guards eventually had to arrest him for creating a nuisance. Having his mother bail him out of jail had not been one of the better moments in his life.

But the worst... The worst were the phone calls. They would come at all hours of the day. Early morning or late night, it did not seem to matter. If his mother answered the phone, the line would abruptly cut off. However if he answered, he would hear heavy breathing. The person never responded to his demands for answers to who it was. The few times the voice said anything it would only repeat one word: _Infanticide_.

It shocked him to hear. He would never kill an innocent child, but the person on the other end would call him a liar when he tried to deny the accusations.

Seymour stared warily at the phone. It was just getting to be too much. He was exhausted, and he was waiting for the next volley of attacks, because he was **sure** they were attacks. It was time to go for the bigger guns. Sighing, he took a deep breath and reached a shaking hand to pick up the phone."

* * *

After the incident that occurred when Sideswipe watched SoundBlaster, Prowl thought that he would be hesitant to watch the sparkling again. However, when Prowl and Jazz had duties away from the base for a mega-cycle, both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker immediately offered their services. After an intense grilling session over why the two trouble makers wanted to watch his sparkling, Prowl reluctantly agreed to let them sparkling-sit. It had taken Jazz sending a data burst of the twins' first meeting with SoundBlaster to make Prowl capitulate, but before he left on his assignment, he made sure to warn the two that he would assign them to the worst possible jobs for deca-cycles if something happened to the sparkling.

Because of Prowl's warning, Sideswipe decided that he and his brother would be better able to watch SoundBlaster in the Rec. room. While it was more open, it had fewer distractions that could make them lose their focus.

SoundBlaster was a relatively easy sparkling to watch. Just having someone nearby, interacting with him, made him happy. The three bots were in the empty Rec. room, with Sunstreaker sitting on one end of the couch while his brother played with the sparkling on the floor.

SoundBlaster giggled and warbled in happiness as Unca' Sides teased the plate seams on his side and tickled him. He glanced up to see his Unca' Sunny smiling down at him. It made him happy that everyone was happy around him.

When the Rec. doors swished open, he froze in fright as a red and white mech came into the room frantically. He had met the mech before, but now he was really upset. SoundBlaster knew that the mech was anxious about something, but he didn't know how to help. All he could do was whimper.

The new mech, not even noticing the others, began to pace back and forth in the room, and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker watched their younger brother pace anxiously in concern.

Red Alert's team had been a good distance from Earth and yet they had managed to meet up with Prime's team. Sideswipe had gotten to Earth even sooner than the rest of the team. However, there had been other teams that were in regions of space closer than Red Alert's team and there had been no word from them. Red Alert tried to think nothing of this, but sometimes his processor got the better of him.

The twin frontliners watched their brother pace back and forth, his optics going from glaring to worry to determination. All without making a sound.

As Red Alert paced silently, his thoughts raced from one thought to another. _/There must be some logical explanation. He's not dead. I would know through the sparkbond. He is fine. . . . Or is the bond stretched too thin? . . . Or he could be captured. I should make rescue plans. Where was their exact location again . . .? I must confer with Prowl. . . And Jazz . . . His input in extraction plans will be invaluable . . . /_

SoundBlaster looked at the pacing bot in interest. He was really missing his daddies and wondered where they were.

One of the twins stepped in front of the pacing security officer, and Red Alert stopped and blinked at the gold colored autobot. "Sunstreaker?"

"What's the matter bro?" Sunstreaker asked.

Red Alert blinked and attempted to calm himself. "I . . . ah . . . nothing."

"That's a slagging lie," Sideswipe said as he came up beside Red Alert. Sunstreaker moved to the side so that Red Alert was boxed in by his brothers. They would often do this when he tried to keep things from them. "You're worried about something. Now tell your older brothers what the problem is."

Red Alert pulled at his digits, a clear sign that he was worried. "It's just...we've gotten a transmission from Streetwise's team."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker glanced at each other. Sideswipe grinned at a smirking Sunstreaker, remembering who was on that team. "That's great news. Are they coming here?"

Distractedly Red Alert responded, "Yes . . . Yes."

"But," Sunstreaker prompted.

Red Alert sighed, "Hotspot's team should be closer than them, and there's been no word from them for vorns."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker looked at their brother in dawning understanding. It was Sunstreaker who simply stated one name, "Inferno."

Red Alert agreed. "Inferno . . . What if something happened to him? I could not live without my mate. The distance between us has thinned the sparkbond. He could be dead or captured-"

Resting a servo on Red Alert's arm, Sideswipe interrupted Red Alert before he could work himself into frenzy. "You would know if something bad happened to him."

"But. . ." Red Alert started.

Firmly, Sunstreaker said, "No buts. Inferno is your sparkmate, Red. You would feel if he were in danger or had died. Don't forget, Prowl felt it when Jazz was in danger and injured. Have you felt any sort of danger from him?"

"No, but why haven't we heard from them?" Red Alert pleaded for answers.

Sunstreaker snorts. "Wasn't Inferno part of a fighting team? They may be so close to those slagging cons their supposed to be destroying that they can't risk any communication."

"You think so?" Red Alert asked.

Sideswipe nodded. "Of course. They could be on their way here at this very moment."

When SoundBlaster realized that his uncles were calming down the distraught bot, he decided to see if he could find a more interesting location. He was too young to realize how big the place was. When the humans had given the base to the autobots, they had left the ground part of the base as it was. The humans they worked with would live on top so that civilians would not wander onto the base thinking it was abandoned.

However, instead of using the facilities on the base, the Autobots had built an immense structure that was more suited toward them underneath the human base above. The Autobot portion of the base had quarters, offices, a med bay, and a recreational room that was one of the closest rooms to the surface. This was done so that the humans could spend free time with the bots in an environment that was comfortable for both.

SoundBlaster wandered down the hallway. After looking for any interesting bots, he soon lost interest and decided to go back to his quarters. Jazz Daddy was always fun to play with. For hours, he tried to find his quarters, but all the hallways looked the same. At the end of the hall he could hear some bot muttering amidst a strange clanking noise.

Ah . . . There was a bot that could help him. SoundBlaster hurried toward the open doorway.

As he reached the doorway, the room became eerily silent. Then the bot let out a curse that SoundBlaster knew Prowl Daddy wouldn't have liked, and he watched in surprise as the mysterious bot dropped to the floor as the object he had been tinkering with exploded in a bright flash, letting out a big cloud of black smoke and ash that headed straight for the door.

SoundBlaster blinked as grey-white ash fell around him. He let out a small giggle and clapped his hands in excitement.

Startled, the pale metallic green bot turned to find he had an audience of one. His ear fins flickered on and off in surprise.

SoundBlaster, realizing he had the new bot's attention, decided to share his appreciation of the previous events. Grinning, he eagerly asked his new friend, "B'o 'gain?"

TBC

Note: If you're wondering what'll happen next, my muses have begun chanting: They're coming. They're coming. They're coming. *wanders off giggling*


End file.
